Northbridge Town
by Mechanical Infection
Summary: While in search for powerful Pokémon Ash, Brock, May and Max encounter an ancient curse set in motion when Ash touches a strange sphere. By doing so he has unleashed a hidden and evil legendary Pokémon bent on the destruction of the human race.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue:** Ever since the dawn of time there has been a war between the light and the darkness and ever since anyone can recall the light has always beaten the darkness. But what happens when that darkness is so durable and so powerful that the light has failed to succeed in conquering its enemy? What happens when the only way to beat the darkness is by fighting the darkness with darkness?

Just as the sun set and darkness covered the valley right off the east coast of Northbridge town, Noctowls, Umbreons and other night dwelling Pokémon made an appearance. The valley's center consisted of tall green grass which fed some of the Pokémon. Right in there, were beautiful flowers which danced as the air gently caressed their gentle petals. A river also made a home of the valley, as a family of Umbreons played by the river the moon's face was reflected in it. All through out the land there was the deep and tranquil sound of peace. Nothing of technology was seen around, no cars could be heard passing by nor was the toxic waste of the car's exhaust pipe polluting the area. No humans littered the area with cups, cans or paper. There were no such things as crime or war or pain in the valley. There was just the tranquility of the night, the dance of the wind and the chant of the night life.

As peaceful as it seemed and felt, that peace was soon broken when a young man around his late teens raced through the tall grass. He was wearing black, baggy pants, a gray jacket with the Quicksilver symbol in red in the middle and a gray hat with said symbol on it. He was running as fast as he knew he could. He had been running for a long time, he felt the effect in his tired legs but he knew that if he stopped running they would get him for sure. His lungs were aching from the heavy breathing he was doing from the exhausting task of running for his life. His mind however was not active; all he had in mind was to get as far away as possible. He did not know where he would end up in but he cared not. All he could focus on at the moment was running.

At Northbridge Valley's entrance Ash, Brock, May and Max made their way towards two pillars wrapped in vines. In between the pillars they could see two cliffs separating a gorge which led into the Northbridge valley. Brock and Max looked up at the giant cliffs, they had to tilt their heads back in order to appreciate their size which compared to them were like gods atop of Mt. Olympus. Ash and May stared into the gorge as if asking themselves if going through was as good an idea as jumping into a pool full of starving Sharpedos. "Should we go in?" May asked as she looked into the blackness of the gorge. Brock and Max caught up with them and looked at Ash waiting to see what he would say. After all, coming to Northbridge Valley was his idea. After hearing that strong Pokémon dwelled in the valley all Ash could do was talk about how he would go in and catch the strongest Pokémon he could find.

The gorge's blackness was intimidating and it was almost midnight which gave it a more terrifying feeling. He stared into the blackness of the gorge and suddenly felt a strange feeling go up and down his spine. Never had he felt such a feeling before. It felt as if fear, concern, tranquility and curiosity had been combined together and had overwhelmed him all at once. Pikachu, which sat on his shoulder, looked at him curiously. It tapped him on the shoulder and Ash snapped out of the strange trance he had been drowning in. He shook his head and said in a determined matter which was more how he usually acted. "Yeah! Let's go." He walked in first and then the others slowly went in.

The trip through the gorge was quick and less frightening than they had anticipated. They reached the other side in a matter of 7 minutes and laid eyes on the most beautiful valley any of them had ever seen. All four of them gasped in awe as they saw the river and the flowers and the playful Pokémon which came to life when the moon would shine its pure beauty on them. They scanned the area for a place to make camp and spend the night in. There was no problem with that. Brock soon spotted a small cave at the foot of a cliff which rested right next to the river.

They walked over and made sure the cave was not home to any Pokémon. There seemed to be no one inside so they made camp. Although the moon's light shunned brightly they needed a bit more light so they gathered some wood to make a fire. They searched the near by area but only found thin twigs and two branches which would not be enough for a decent fire. Brock looked at it in question and as he crossed his arms he said while looking at the wood. "Well, if we want a two minute fire then this will do. We need more fire wood." His question was blown out with the intention that someone else would volunteer to find fire wood. He turned to the group and none of them seemed to make the least of an attempt to race to the task of collecting wood. Finally Ash spoke up and said. "All right, I'll get the wood. C'mon Pikachu."

Both Ash and Pikachu walked on to get more firewood while the others finished with the camp. Pikachu climbed up on Ash's right shoulder and smiled at its trainer. Ash put his hands in his pant's pockets and looked down at the ground in hopes of finding wood quickly. The search lasted a while as both of them kept a look out for firewood. It was a search they would soon have to face was in vain. There were no trees in the area or at least in the area they were in. The only trees Ash could see were at the other side of the valley, right up on the side of the cliff walls. That was sure to be a walk of about two hours and he couldn't carry all that wood by himself. As he walked on Pikachu sensed something was watching them. It looked around but saw nothing so it kept looking at the ground in case it saw some wood. Ash sighed deeply and said. "We're never gonna find any wood out here Pikachu." The small yellow mouse replied. "Pika."

Suddenly that feeling Ash felt when they were at the entrance of the valley invaded him once more, only this time fear was the dominant feeling in him. He remained calm outside but inside it felt as if a war was going on. He raised his gaze and looked around frantically as if searching for something. He circled around and looked with no stop, Pikachu was somehow feeling the same thing but fear was not the dominant feeling within the small electrical mouse. Ash's eyes scanned the area so quickly it was starting to give him a headache but he didn't care about that. All he cared about was to get rid of that feeling or better said feelings he was having at the moment.

He placed his hands on his face, covering his eyes. When he removed his hands and opened his eyes he did not see that peaceful and green valley any longer. All he saw was a battlefield. He saw people running around everywhere, some screaming, others holding spears in their hands as if ready for war. There were strange small houses made of twigs and mud all over the valley. There were women and children running towards the exit of the valley, he saw men fighting with each other. Then a loud and ear shattering roar was sent into his ears, he covered his ears with his hands and looked around to see what made that sound. At one end of the valley he saw a giant winged creature and at the other end he saw one similar to the other.

One of the creatures was black and the other was white. Ash couldn't see any details because they were so far away from him. All he could see was their color and their massive wings which looked like they could create a cyclone by simply flapping their wings. Suddenly all the humans disappeared and so did the giant creatures. The entire scene was back to how it looked minutes ago or so he thought. He looked around but couldn't see the camp site nor could he find Pikachu. He looked around in an almost panic, his breathing quickened and his heart was racing. He walked forward and called out everyone's names. "Pikachu! Max, May, Brock! Where are you guys! Hello?" He walked a bit forward and then as he inhaled to call out again he heard a low hissing sound which froze his spine and made his hair stand on end.

He slowly turned around and right behind him was what looked like a person. He or she was wearing a white hooded cloak and that person had the hood up completely engulfing their face in blackness as if not to identify them. His breathing was now faster and heavier and his heart was racing at such a fast pace he could swear it would jump right out of his chest at any given moment. He dared not approach this person; deep inside he had a horrible feeling about this person. Who ever that was lifted his arm up and pointed behind him. He slowly turned around and saw another cloaked person but this one was wearing a black cloak and looked far more frightening.

Both figures slowly approached him at a slow pace. Ash swallowed hard and as his breathing kept getting faster they stopped and both at the same time screamed in a strange voice. "Release us now!" Ash quickly closed his eyes and when he opened them again they were gone. He looked around him and found no one except for Pikachu who was several feet from him and was looking at him in a manner as if asking what was wrong with him? Ash exhaled deeply and said. "Are you okay?" Pikachu walked up to him and replied. "Pika. Pi, pikachu." Ash turned around and before he could take another step someone ran right into him. Both of them fell to the ground from the impact. A young man in his late teens got back up and said as he tried to catch his breath. "Watch…where you're going, punk!" Ash got back up and quickly snapped. "Hey, you were the one who bumped into me!"

The kid fell to his knees and tried to catch his breath from what Ash thought was too much running. Ash's anger quickly subdued and he went over to the kid who seemed extremely tired from so much running. "Why were you running?" When the kid finally got his breath back at a normal pace he said. "I was trying to get the---long story kid. I just…have to get out of town for a while."

"Well, why? Are you in some sort of trouble?" The kid chuckled and said as he looked up at Ash. "Not just I, sport. The entire world is in deep, deep trouble. You know what? Enjoy your last few days here on Earth. Make amends, do things you had always wanted to do, I don't care, just enjoy life…while you still can…" Having said that the kid got back up and started running towards Northbridge Valley's entrance. Pikachu looked at the kid curiously as did Ash, then they both looked at each other and lifted their shoulders. Pikachu then climbed back up on Ash's shoulder and just as Ash took a step forward he saw something glowing on the floor. He looked down and saw something in a sphere like shape. He kneeled down and picked it up. It felt like a small marble that was wrapped in a torn piece of clothe. He unwrapped the object and held in his hands a small white sphere which was glowing.

He stared right into the sphere and went into a trance. He looked at it and became more and more serious. The more he stared into it the deeper he went into the trance. Pikachu called out to him several times but Ash would not respond. Pikachu stood in front of Ash and waved its small paw in front of his face. Still, Ash would not respond, he just kept looking into the sphere. Pikachu then noticed how his eyes were changing color right before its eyes. The brown was slowly being drowned in a bright yellow which seemed to glow. Suddenly Ash passed out an fell on the ground, after several attempts of calling out to its trainer but received no response Pikachu decided to run back to camp and bring someone back.

Early in the morning Ash slowly opened his eyes. He remained lying on the floor and examined the area. He looked around and noticed he was in his sleeping bag inside the cave they had made camp in. He sat up and looked for Brock and the others but he didn't see them anywhere. As he rose he began to feel a bit dizzy for some reason, he walked to the cave's entrance and saw everyone was up and about. Pikachu looked back and saw him standing there and the small mouse ran over to him and greeted him. "Pika pi!" Ash hugged Pikachu but remained quiet. He felt rather strange and very tired; he could hardly recall the events that had taken place the night before. Max approached him and said. "Well, you don't look so good."

"Are you okay? You feel all right?" Said May as she went near him. He didn't answer any of the questions that they were asking. All he could focus on were thousands of images that were racing through his mind at the moment. Images that took place thousands of years ago. Brock soon joined them and asked if he was feeling all right but Ash wouldn't answer to any of them. He just looked right through them and into oblivion as if there was something out there speaking to him. May waved her hand right in front of his face but he didn't react, he just kept staring into nothing and it was starting to worry them.

Suddenly he snapped out of that and looked to where they had been sitting and saw the sphere he found the night before. There was something different about it; it was not glowing like it was when he picked it up. He stared at it and as Brock was going to pat him on the shoulder he quickly turned around and threw up behind him. Brock and the others backed up a little and figured he had gotten sick. Brock quickly ran to his backpack and got a map out and looked at it in hopes of finding the nearest town.

"Well, the nearest town is Northbridge town which is that way." Brock pointed out towards the other side of the valley, which at the moment seemed to be miles and miles away. Max sighed and said. "Think he can walk all the way there?"

"I'm not sure. But we'll go slowly and give him a break if he needs one. So come on guys, let's pack up."

Brock, May and Max packed their things and Ash just watched them. Pikachu sat several feet from Ash and watched him carefully; it sensed something alien within him, something strange and unnatural. Pikachu looked right into his eyes and saw something strange in them. Ash looked at where Brock pointed out when he spoke of the nearest town. His mind was blank and he suddenly began to shiver, which was strange since the atmosphere was cool not cold enough to shiver from it. Pikachu called out for any of them and as Max looked Pikachu pointed at Ash who crossed his arms across his chest and was shivering.

"Guys, I think we better move it."

They picked up the pace and as they set out they handed a jacket to Ash. He put it on but he was still shivering. The walk was well over two hours but they somehow had to make it across the valley and into Northbridge town and once there they would try and find some one to take a look at Ash and see if there was something wrong. As they walked by a herd of Stantlers they froze and stared at them. The Stantler seemed shaken up and were slowly backing away from them as they passed by. The same thing happened when they passed by a group of Sentrets. When they passed by the group of Sentrets ran away in fear. They paid little attention to their behavior since they figured the Pokémon in that area were not used to seeing humans.

After two hours of walking they finally reached the town of Northbridge. The town was pretty big. It had a feeling of advanced technology but at the same time it gave off a feeling of the days of yore, the streets were wide, the buildings were tall, short and some skyscrapers in between. They could see clear across to the other side of town and in the middle they saw what appeared to be a park in the middle of the entire town. Another thing that stuck out and was almost unbelievable to believe was the fact that the town was very clean. There was not a single newspaper or can on the floor. They stopped admiring the town and began to look for any signs of a hospital. Max quickly spotted one and before he could point it out Ash collapsed on the sidewalk.


	2. Chapter 2

Suddenly Ash opened his eyes quickly and as the light penetrated into his pupils he closed his eyes from the burning sensation from the light bulbs on the roof. As soon as his eyes were accustomed to the light he looked around and saw he was in a hospital room. He sat up and looked around in confusion. Ash was going to get up from the bed but a young woman walked in and said. "No, no. You must rest before you go anywhere, young man." A young woman in her middle twenties walked into the room. She was somewhat short, her eyes were an easy light blue, her hair was a soft hazel color, and it was curly and reached her chin. She was wearing a nurse's uniform and had a clipboard grasped in her hands. Her voice had sounded soothing, like that of a mother's voice when comforting a child when hurt or lost. And even though Ash was a tad dazed he could tell she had an accent of some sort although he could not tell.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Ash looked away and after a few seconds reacted to the nurse's joke but could still not really comprehend what she had said so he reacted in the only manner he could. "Huh?" The nurse laughed and said while smiling. "It was a joke. We usually say it to patients who have been out for so long."

"How long was I out?"

"Three days." Ash's eyes widened when he heard he had been unconscious for three whole days. He tried to remember the last thing that happened but he couldn't recall anything at all. The last real detail he had buried deep within his mind was looking at Pikachu while they stood somewhere. He studied the image and the environment seemed like that of a valley. Then he remembered Pikachu, Brock, May and Max and asked the nurse about them as she was folding some blankets. "Oh, they're downstairs having dinner. I'll tell them you woke up as soon as I see them."

"Thanks." The nurse walked away and before the door to his room could close completely she held it open and said. "Oh and if you need anything my name is Tanya." Ash nodded and Tanya walked away to tend to other patients. Ash looked around the room. There was a CTG machine in the left hand corner of the room, a TV with cable above him, he looked to his right and saw the remote for the TV. He looked towards the window and saw the park. He could see families and children playing around. He also spotted several kids with some Pokémon and what looked like Trainers as well. He sighed deeply and wished he did not have to be in the hospital room.

As he stared at the kids in the park he was suddenly distracted by a hissing sound that came from the closet in front of him. He quickly turned his head towards it and looked at the closet door. The door and the frame had about two inches of a distance but the closet itself was dark inside and he could not see what was inside. He figured the hissing sound he supposedly heard was just his imagination. That or the plumbing in the hospital was terrible. He turned his attention to the window once more and looked at the lucky kids playing around with their Pokémon. He got out of the bed and walked towards the window and looked down at the park. He noticed a strange statue in the middle of the park. He couldn't make out all the details but he could see it was some sort of creature. It looked almost reptilian and he could see it had massive wings and a long tail.

Suddenly he remembered seeing a creature of that nature somewhere. He searched the back of his mind, knowing he had seen something similar to it somewhere. It wasn't a Pokémon he had ever seen before but he knew he had seen it before. He lowered his gaze as he searched his mind but came up with nothing. He looked at the statue once more and saw someone in a white hooded cloak standing in front of the statue looking directly at him. He backed away from the window but kept looking at the figure, he noticed that the figure was slowly lifting its right arm and was pointing towards a huge Cathedral. He looked at the Cathedral, it had an old age design and like most buildings done in the early 1800s it had a gothic design to it. He looked back at the statue but the figure was gone. Ash looked all over the park but couldn't find anything at all. He was beginning to think he was going crazy, perhaps no one else even saw that figure in the park, whoever it was looked too creepy to not have been noticed by anyone, yet no one came forward or was even bothered by the sight.

He slowly turned around and looked at the closet and saw two yellow eyes glowing from within the closet. He gasped loudly and backed up against the wall. He kept looking at the eyes and did not remove his sight from the closet for a single second. The eyes eventually faded away but he was still frightened by their disturbing presence. Then some 10 minutes later Brock, May, Max and Pikachu walked in and found him staring blankly into the closet. Brock looked at him and traced his eyes to where Ash was staring into and saw he was looking into the closet. Brock reached his hand over to the door's handle and slowly began to open it but Ash yelled out. "No! There's something in there!"

Brock opened the door all the way but no one saw anything, just towels, blankets and some medical equipment. They looked into the closet and then back at Ash who refused to take another step towards the closet. Pikachu ran over to Ash and jumped on his shoulder and hugged him. Ash returned the hug but kept looking into the closet. Brock walked over to him and said. "Hey, are you sure you're all right?" May and Max walked forward as well and Max said. "Yeah, you been acting weird lately." Ash drew his attention away from the closet and looked at them and said. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm all right." Pikachu squealed in delight and then jumped on the bed as Ash sat on it.

"How long do I have to stay here?" Ash was hoping that he would hear an answer he would like but deep inside he knew he would have to face the fact that he might have to stay for a couple of more days. May and Max sat on the bed as well and Brock sat on a chair that was behind a drawer and said. "Well, the good news is that they didn't find anything wrong with you." He paused for a few minutes as if letting Ash get ready to hear some bad news and then he said. "The bad news is you have to stay until Friday." Ash groaned loudly and Max and Pikachu giggled and he looked at them rather annoyed.

"Friday? But why?"

"Well, you just passed out when we were in Northbridge Valley and as we walked into town you collapsed right on the side walk. I'm no doctor but that does seem pretty strange."

Ash crossed his arms and said. "Well, I'm fine. I feel all right." Brock shook his head and said. "You may look and perhaps feel fine but we don't know why you passed out for no reason at all. They're just gonna run some tests and see if you really are okay." Ash looked away more annoyed than before and said. "Fine!" The others smiled and Max said after letting out a huge yawn.

"Well, I donnu 'bout the rest of you but I'm dead tired and sleepy."

Pikachu yawned followed by May and both agreed after yawning in that manner. Brock nodded and said it was getting late. It was after 12:00 midnight after all and they were going to get up early to come back to check up on Ash. After they said their goodbyes the three kids and the small Pikachu headed out of the room and closed the door behind them. After they had gone a sudden feeling of boredom overwhelmed him. The dull interior of the hospital room felt entrapping and the thought of escape ran through his mind more than once. For a few minutes he had actually stopped to consider that escaping would be a good idea. He had seen he was only on the third floor and when Brock had opened the closet door he saw more than enough blankets to make a rope to climb down from.

He shook that thought away. He knew the more he thought of it the more he would be driven to actually escape from the hospital. There was no problem with him, the only problem would be Brock, May and Max dragging him back to the hospital saying a ridiculous comment such as "It's for your own good." The mere thought of such cruel fate only sank him into a deep uncomforted feeling. He lay on the bed and tossed the blanket over him and faced the window and saw the night sky. Never before had he ever seen the night sky so clear and peaceful, never had he seen the stars shine so brightly, it was almost ethereal. Slowly his eyes began to close and as he drifted off to sleep he heard a low hissing sound.

He sat up quickly and looked around the room. There was no one standing there, his eyes quickly flowed towards the closet but it was closed. Still, he needed to know where that sound had come from, so he got out of the bed and slowly walked towards the closet. Time felt like it had slowed down drastically, his breathing had been altered, he wouldn't blink once and his heart raced faster as his hand reached the door's handle. He slowly reached the handle and once it was in his grip he held it tightly as if not sure if he should open the door. Ash wondered what he would find behind the door, he wondered if he would find anything at all. He exhaled and slowly began to open the door. He had gotten the door away from the frame by just an inch or perhaps two when the room's door swung open and Tanya walked in.

Tanya turned on the lights and found Ash opening the closet door. She lifted an eyebrow in question and assumed he was looking for another blanket. "You know, you can turn the AC down if you want." Ash let go of the handle and walked back to the bed. He felt strange and rather worried. There was a question dwelling in his mind that he badly wanted to ask but he dared not for it was a question sure to make him seem somewhat childish. As Tanya checked several contents in the drawer next to the bed Ash wondered if he should ask the question or not. In the end he decided to ask, after all, that question would fester in his mind if he did not ask it and he would not be able to avoid it until Friday.

"Is this place haunted?"

Tanya dropped everything she was doing and looked at him rather puzzled. The color from Ash's face drained as he saw her looking at him in a questionable way. The subject of ghosts was one no one could determine whether it was credible or not. She sat on the bed's edge and smiled sweetly as she said. "Haunted? Aren't you a little too old to still believe in the boogeyman?" Her question was not mean to be an insult but it felt that way for him, as he lowered his gaze in embarrassment he looked over at the closet. She looked to where he was looking and realized he was looking at the closet. She smiled once again as she remembered what it was like to be a kid and be afraid of the closet she ruffled his hair up and said.

"You know. Our town has had a rather disturbing past. Talk of hauntings and apparitions. Someone must have said something to scare you when you first arrived."

"I never spoke to anyone. Soon as I walked into town I collapsed."

"Oh, that's right. Well, there's nothing to worry about. I'll let you in on a little secret. The plumbing here totally sucks. If it rains too much, the water turns to mud." Both laughed at the comment and as she rose up to get back to work he said. "Two figures that look identical in everything. One dressed in a black hooded cloak and the other in a white hooded cloak. Who are they?" Tanya froze in utter fear as soon as he described those two figures. She kept facing the door as if not letting him see the look of sheer terror on her face. By that simple reaction of not reacting at all Ash knew she knew something about them but he remained absolutely quiet and awaited her to make a move.

Tanya inhaled and turned around to look at him right in the eyes. He looked back in an emotionless way. She studied the look in his eyes but did not find what she was looking for. Tanya calmed down a bit and said in stammering words. "Well, I—I don't know. Who are you talking about?" He shook his head and said. "Nothin'. Never mind." With that he lay back on the bed and crossed his hands behind his head. The way she asked that question assured what he was questioning all along. He was not as dumb or naïve or as stupid as some people thought him to be. He was sure there was something strange going on in that town.

Eventually after an hour of staring into the roof he fell asleep but around 3:19 in the morning he woke up. He sat up and looked around and then looked out the window. Ash remained frozen for several minutes and then heard a noise. It was not a hissing sound and it did not come from the closet. This sound seemed to be coming from outside of his room and it was more of a voice than a hissing sound. Although it was very faint, he could hear it very clearly and it sounded very vivid. He got up from his bed and decided to check it out, unconsciously he opened the closet door and gathered his belongings, after he sat on the bed and began to get dressed he noticed he had just opened the closet door but he was not bothered or even scared of it.

After he had gotten dressed he opened the door a little to take a look outside and see if there was anyone out in the hallway. The coast was clear so he crept along the wall and followed the sound. As he walked on it became clearer and louder yet no one else seemed to be hearing it. He headed towards the last door of the hallway and there he realized the sound was a girl's voice which had been saying something. He could hear every word very clearly and repeated after it as if he knew the words perfectly well. "Blood of my blood, you spirits of love, come from below and from above…"

Ash crept along the wall and followed the sound of the voice and kept repeating that poem or whatever it was. He reached the last door and surprisingly it was the stairs. He opened the door and looked up and saw it led all the way to the roof. He was not sure why, but he had to go to the roof. Something within him told him to run to the roof, what would he find? Perhaps someone in trouble, perhaps something that might explain those two figures or perhaps even nothing. Perhaps when he collapsed he hit his head too hard on the sidewalk but he did not care. He just had to kill the ambition of needing to head to the roof. He quickly ran up the stairs, he jogged floor after floor. He was on the 5th floor when his legs were starting to give in but that feeling of need to get up to the roof was too much to ignore. Finally on the last floor the door leading into the hospital opened up and several doctors walked in.

Ash knew if he were to get caught he'd be in some trouble so he ran back down to the 6th floor and opened the door. Right in front of him was a door with bold, red letters on the crystal which read X RAYS. He reached for the doorknob and to his surprise it was open. He ran in and hid amongst some brown boxes that were on the floor half way opened indicating that new equipment had been brought in. After several minutes he was going to get up but the door opened and the lights were turned on. He let out a quiet gasp. He thought for sure he would get caught but surprisingly no one checked the boxes. As he stayed glued to the cold wall he could see through some of the boxes a man and a woman.

A better observation let him see the woman's face and he was shocked to see it was Tanya. The man she was speaking to was a lot older than her. He had white hair with several gray streaks on his sides. His eyes were light blue just like Tanya's, in fact; they resembled Tanya's eyes a little too much. The man looked a little like her but he paid little attention to that; he just listened in on the conversation they were having.

"He said he saw two figures one in black the other in white. I'm sure of it!"

"Calm down, dear. I'm sure it's one of the kids playing a joke. You know how teens can be, especially now a days."

"I donnu. He just sounded so sure about it."

The old man sighed and placed his right hand on her left shoulder. Ash noticed a strange ring on the man's index finger. The ring was silver and it had a circle on the middle of it and in the circle was an eye split in half. The left side of the eye was blood red and the right side was yellow. As he looked at it the man said. "When the boy feels better we'll have a talk with him, all right?" The man's voice was calming and tranquil which indicated that he was a doctor, that and the white coat he was wearing gave it away for sure. Tanya wasn't exactly satisfied with the resolution but she did have the comfort that the boy was still in the hospital under close watch so she agreed and both of them went out.

After some 10 minutes Ash was sure they wouldn't even be on the same floor. He got up and took a step forward not realizing that a cable from one of the machines had gotten tangled on his foot. As he set his foot down some of the equipment came down on the floor in a thundering loud crashing sound, sure to get the attention of anyone in the area. Tanya was still in the same floor and only a few feet away from the room Ash was hiding in. She heard a loud noise and looked towards the room but Ash hid before she could see him. She raised a brow and walked over to the room to investigate the situation.

Ash tried as much as he could to sort some of the stuff back in place but he was just too nervous so he hid amongst the boxes once more. Right after he hid Tanya walked in and turned the lights on. She looked around and saw some boxes on the floor and several test tubes scattered about on the floor. Ash kept very silent and had his legs crouched up against his body. After she picked the things off the floor she placed her hand on the light switch but before turning it off she glanced once more at the room and thought to herself. _"Things don't just fall for any reason…"_

Finally after what felt like 3 centuries for Ash, Tanya turned the lights off and left. Ash exhaled deeply and just let go of his legs in relief. He waited another few minutes and then took a peek outside to see if there was anyone else on the floor. Once again the coast was clear and he quietly snuck to the stairs. One thing that puzzled him was that while hiding and Tanya and the old man talking Ash could still hear the voice loud and clear but they didn't seem to hear it at all. That was beginning to worry him, it also scared him that he heard the voices but they didn't seem to even notice it at all. He began to run up the stairs and couldn't help but repeat after the voice once more. "Entities loving who wish me well come to this circle when I sound the bell…"

He finally reached the roof and once up there he looked around. He didn't know what or who he was looking for; he just knew there was something up on the roof. After 5 tiring minutes of frantically looking around he heard a clapping sound, as soon as he turned around he saw someone hiding behind one of the generators. The person immerged from the darkness the generator provided giving that the moon shun down in the opposite direction.

To his surprise a young girl, about his age, walked up to him while clapping. She had long black smooth hair that reflected the moon's light, her skin as pale as the snow in winter, her eyes burned with a bloody red color. Her clothing consisted of a black short dress and a black overcoat which reached her ankles and high heeled black boots which reached her knees. He also noticed a small sphere tied around her neck by a silver string, the sphere looked just like the one he found. He hadn't remembered about it until he laid eyes on the one this young girl had.


	3. Chapter 3

"Bravo. I must say, James Bond himself couldn't have done better." Confused by that statement, he raised an eyebrow in question but the girl simply smiled. "What are you talking about?" Once again the girl smiled in a most seductive way but he was almost oblivious to the nature of her wicked smile. "Your escape from the hospital. Very nice indeed. You could swear you were a talented spy."

Her flattery was of no use on Ash at the moment. Curiosity and about a dozen questions prevented him to feel anything else but confusion. She walked right past him and as the air blew in his direction he picked up the smell of her perfume which was indeed dazzling and mesmerizing. Perhaps if he weren't so confused at the moment he probably would have been claimed by the perfume's delight.

The girl walked up to the edge of the building and looked down on the town. Ash for some reason walked over to her and stood next to her. As they both looked down at all the lights she spoke up once more.

"You can tell there's something wrong. Can't you? You can feel a change inside of you even as we speak."

"Ho—how'd you know that?" Ash was all ready puzzled by the events but when she said that he was even more puzzled than before.

"It's my job to know."

"Who are you anyways?" The girl simply smiled yet again but Ash noticed no intensions with that smile. It was only a cocky smile from which he could tell she had plenty of answers even if his questions would be bizarre.

"My name is Eriscordia. But you can call me Eris. Nice to meet you Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." Just as she said that she extended her hand to shake his hand in a rather courteous way. But he was in such shock that it wouldn't be unexpected if he dropped his jaw in shock. He stared at her for several minutes studying her face and eyes. He finally shook her hand and Eris smiled.

"Would you stop smiling and tell me what the bloody hell is going on?" His words stopped cold as he analyzed what he just said. The words" bloody hell" were not part of his regular dialogue but he blurted them out as if it was normal. But then again nothing seemed normal to him. Eris tilted her head back and let out a small laugh as he stood there and looked puzzled.

"I know what is happening to you. And I can help you with those changes."

"How?"

"All in good time, cutie. First off, you might want to get out of here." Eris extended her index finger and planted it in the middle of his chest and pushed him away from the edge of the building and literary pushed him towards the middle of the roof.

"Well? Get us out of here." Ash wondered if this Eris girl was either crazy or if this was a strange dream or perhaps even a hallucination. They were on the roof of a 6 floor hospital and right on the roof this girl told him to get them out of there and he knew she did not mean walking out the front door.

"Um…I donnu if you noticed but we are on the roof of a building."

"So what? You can get us out of here in the blink of an eye."

"How the heck am I going to do that?" Ash's curiosity was being replaced by anger. Nothing she was saying made sense and it was really starting to irritate him to no end. She shook her head and calmly said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Like this." Once she placed her hand on his shoulder both of them began to glow in a faint white color. Ash may have been lost in this entire ordeal but he knew exactly why they were glowing.

For a split second Ash had closed his eyes and when he opened them again he saw that he was in an alley. He stood there almost frightened. How they got off the roof of a 6 floor building? By using Teleport, a move only certain Pokémon could use. Eris walked out of the alley and as Ash tried as much as he could to make sense of what he just saw he stumbled after her. He was about to blur out a bunch of questions but before he could make a sound Eris began to talk.

"Was that what I think it was? Yes. That was Teleport. Do I have any Pokémon that know that move with me? No. I do not have any Pokémon with me. Are you finally loosing it? No. Your mentality is very healthy. Is this really happening? Yes, it is. Will I explain and stop scaring the crap out of you? Yes, I'll explain right now."

Ash was completely dumbfounded since the questions she just asked and answered were the exact ones he was about to ask. He stopped in the middle of the road and lifted his finger as he was about to ask another question but he figured she knew what he was going to ask so he left it at that.

Eris sat down on a bench and stared into the park. She inhaled and then looked up at the Cathedral that was right across the park. Ash was feeling a bit strange but he walked over and sat next to her. Both remained quiet for several minutes but then Eris turned towards him and said something that left him in a bigger shock.

"The sphere you found wrapped up in a torn cloth was wrapped up for a reason. Any human that made direct contact with it would be blessed with tremendous power. You of course touched it with your bare hand and thus have the gift."

Ash was almost afraid to ask the question he had in mind but he needed to know for certain. "What gift are we talking about here?"

"A gift given that could make all your enemies and rivals quiver with utter fear. A gift that could make all your wishes come true. A gift that could have you in power in the blink of an eye, the snap of a finger. Think of an attack, any attack."

Ash wasn't sure of what would happen but he thought of an attack just to see what she was talking about. He was overwhelmed with the idea of having power for some reason. After he thought of an attack he sat there quietly and looked at Eris with question. About a minute later it began to rain. Eris looked up at the sky and saw nothing but heavy rain clouds as far as the eye could see. She looked back at Ash and said. "Of all attacks you had to think of Rain Dance?"

Ash lifted his shoulders in question and Eris laughed in a sweet kind of way. Eris moved her hand above her head and the rain stopped completely. "Did I do that?" Ash Asked in an almost shy way afraid of the question sounding stupid. Eris of course knew it wasn't a stupid question and so she said.

"Congratulations. You pulled off your first attack."

"I what?" That was the end of the line. Eris made it sound as if he were a Pokémon, but soon he would find out everything he needed to know so he decided to stick around, no matter just how crazy it sounded. Eris lifted her right arm, her palm up right in a way as if motioning someone to stop. What Ash saw next left him in complete awe. Several inches from the middle of her palm a small blue and gray orb appeared and it shot out at a small tree and as soon as the beam hit the tree it froze.

"No…freakin'…way…" He stammered as he stared at the frozen tree. Eris had just used Ice Beam to freeze that tree in front of them. He looked at his right palm in both awe and fear.

"No, you use your left hand." Eris grabbed his left hand as she said that and pointed his hand at the frozen tree and softly said. "Melt it."

With that Ash concentrated on a fire type attack. Just like Eris a red and yellow orb formed just inches from the middle of his palm and right out of it a huge flaming fire star shot out of the orb and hit the tree melting it in a matter of seconds. Ash was completely stunned and awestruck by the events that had unfolded before him. He looked at his left hand and then back at Eris and said.

"Who are you? For real."

"Think of me as your guardian angel."

Ash looked back at his left hand in awe. He couldn't believe he just used Fire Blast to melt a frozen tree. All his life he knew Pokémon were the only creatures capable of performing devastating attacks such as those but for some unexplained reason him and this girl could pull off any attack by just thinking of it and willing it to happen.

Eris rose from the bench and stood in front of him. She placed her hand under his chin and lifted his face to get a look at his eyes. She could feel his emotions, all consisting of fear, curiosity and wonder. Eris smiled and said. "You are now something beyond explanation; something of power and fearsome greatness but along with greatness comes a few flaws. If you wish to live gather your friends and leave this place and never return."

"What happens if I stay?"

"They'll kill you."

Some of his questions were partially answered but he still had many that needed answers. While lost in his train of thought he barely heard the sound of the clock that had been placed in a tower on the Cathedral. It was 5:00 o'clock in the morning and visiting hours began at 7:00 am so he had two hours to hang about, although he did not want to return to the hospital knowing that his life was in grave danger. He sighed deeply while thinking what to do about the entire mess he had just fallen into.

Meanwhile back at the hospital, Tanya had not gotten a single drop of sleep. She was convinced her newest patient was far more than he seemed to be. She sat at the front counter and wondered for a few minutes but she couldn't stand the feeling anymore. She picked up the phone at the counter and dialed a number rapidly. The phone rang for several minutes but she would not hang up.

After almost waiting ten minutes the phone was finally answered and a groggy and sleepy voice answered. "The town had better be under some sort of attack because if it's something stupid I will walk to the hospital and pound the crap out of you." Tanya sighed deeply and said. "Girl, you couldn't beat me even if you tried."

"Oh, I think I could manage. Why are you calling at…5:40 in the morning?"

Tanya looked away and as she answered she played around with the phone's cord by wrapping it around her finger. "Listen, I think you'd better call your brother and ask him if the White Sphere is safe."

"You're being paranoid. That thing is safely tucked away where no one can touch it."

Tanya thought for a minute that she might have been acting a little paranoid but she was not a person who would risk anything so she snapped back and said. "Just do it! I wanna be sure that damn thing is tucked away. Just call your brother and ask him if things are all right."

The girl in the other line stayed silent for a few minutes and finally spoke up. "Tanya…I haven't seen Dante since the other night."

Tanya felt sheer panic and fear rising up her spine, she began to breathe heavily due to the fact that things were not going so well and the fact that things could turn to a disaster in a matter of seconds made her more ill. "Karin, check the spheres and call back here as soon as you do. I'll try and find dad."

Both hung up and Tanya raced to the cafeteria where she had last seen her father. Once there she saw several of his co-workers but he was nowhere to be found, she ran towards one of them and asked where he was. The doctor told her that he was called into the OR for an emergency. She cursed silently and stood there thinking for a minute when a receptionist called her through the PA system.

"Tanya you have an emergency call. Please come by the front counter."

As soon as she heard the word emergency the color faded from her face and her breath froze. For that split second it felt as if time froze. Everything was falling apart and in only a few seconds, just like she had feared. She snapped out of her shell and ran towards the front counter.

Once there the receptionist was holding the phone out and Tanya grabbed it and answered in a panic. "What happened?"

"Tanya, they're gone, both spheres and Dante are gone! What do we do?"

"Try Dante on his cell phone, I'll try to fix things here. Oh and call Petrov!"

Tanya threw the phone and cursed angrily and loudly. She ran to the elevators and punched in the third floor. Being that is was 6:00 o' clock in the morning there was barely any activity besides nurses and doctors tending to their patients. Once on the third floor she raced as fast as she could to room 236, the room where Ash was in. She literary broke in and looked around only to make a horrible discovery. The room was empty. She felt her breath leave her lungs and her head become filled in panic. She checked the bathroom and it was empty as well.

"Shit!" Tanya ran back to the elevators and back down to the front counter. Once she got there she saw one of the receptionists and said. "Hey, I need to go out for some time if you see my father tell him there's been an emergency if he asks what emergency tell him it's a code TE Break out. He knows what it means."

The receptionist agreed and Tanya ran out of the hospital to search for Ash. She stood outside the hospital doors and looked around; she knew just what kind of trouble the entire town was in with Ash on the loose. Ash should have been the last of her worries but with Eriscordia lose, as well it would prove to be disastrous.


	4. Chapter 4

Eriscordia had been watching from the roof of the hospital as Tanya ran out in a panic and looked around town for Ash. She saw this as the perfect opportunity so she decided to locate Ash and let him do her dirty work. As she watched Tanya run around she put her hands together and said as she smiled in a malevolent way. "Oh, this is going to be fun."

Ash had wondered to the other side of town. He walked all morning long thinking about how he would handle the situation. He had a lot to think about now that he had this so-called "gift". He wondered if it would affect him as a trainer, a friend and even as a human. Perhaps he should have been feeling great or at the least happy but the only thing he felt at the moment was sadness for some reason.

Ash had walked right out of town and into the forest. He stopped at a beautiful waterfall which poured down on a small pond that was surrounded by wild and beautiful flowers. A sight truly remarkable. If it had been under other circumstances he probably would have enjoyed the scenery but he felt indifferent. He sat on a huge rock that was close to the water and looked into the water. It was then and there that he noticed something different in his eyes. His normal eye color was brown but when he glanced over at the reflection in the water he saw his eyes were now a bright yellow color.

As he kept staring into the reflection he felt another presence in the area, he knew exactly who it was so he said as he kept looking into the water. "What do you want?"

Eriscordia stepped forward from behind the trees and said in a calming voice. "I see your senses are becoming stronger. Very good." She walked over and stood in front of him and noticed that deathly sad look on his face and said in a sympathetic kind of way. "Hey, why the sad look?"

Her question had no real meaning in it and it had a very hypocrite feeling to it. He simply scoffed and turned away but she insisted and turned his face towards hers with her hand. She saw his eyes had changed color so she smiled and went on with her little scheme.

"You remember when I told you if you don't get out of town that your life would be in grave danger?"

"Yeah." Ash answered but he felt no real feeling towards that statement. Eriscordia was beginning to grow tired of his attitude so she decided to spice things up for him. "Ash, not only that but they have captured your friends."

That certainly did the trick. He turned around and looked at her in an almost panic and said. "What? Who? Who has them?"

"A cruel and spiteful man. His name is Marco Nevalainen. He works as a doctor in this town but he has a few skeletons in his closet and don't be fooled by his "sweet" nature. The man is a con!"

Ash's anger was rising and fast. He hated the fact that this whole mess got his friends in danger and all because of something he did not even want. He got up and marched towards town. Eriscordia stayed put and smiled trying not to laugh so she wouldn't give her position away. She knew he would immediately get into a fight, since it would be his first it would be pretty entertaining to see, even if he got hurt.

She walked beside him as they walked back into town. She was smiling while he had on a look that would scare even the most twisted serial killer. He walked up straight and with his hands behind his back. At the park Eriscordia saw Tanya still looking around and asking people several questions. Eriscordia took this to her advantage since Tanya had not seen them. She placed her arm on Ash's shoulder and leaned into his ear and whispered something.

"That little nurse? Tanya. She is Nevalainen's oldest daughter and just as cruel and vicious as he is. She'll want to pick a fight but I know you have what it takes to send her to eternity."

As her poisonous words slithered into his ear she smiled wickedly and wrapped both arms around him and leaned even closer and said. "Show no mercy."

That was all it took. Something in the back of his mind snapped and he was now blinded by pure rage which was definitely not a good thing. He was normally a good, kind person but her words had poisoned him to no end and she was misguiding him. Eriscordia thought it would be better if she watched from afar so she vanished into thin air and reappeared on the roof of a building not too far off.

Tanya was looking around but a strange feeling overcame her. She slowly turned around and saw Ash standing right in front of her. The look in his eyes was nothing short of murderous and dangerous. Tanya was beginning to panic since she had no way of defending herself against him. She thought of the only thing she could do at the moment, she turned around and ran away but Ash lifted his left hand and shot out an Ice Beam attack and froze her feet.

Ash began to walk slowly towards her as he placed his arms behind his back and kept a close eye on her in case she tried to escape. When he was half way near her he looked at a tree next to him and the roots erupted from the soil and wrapped around her. He looked at another tree on the opposite side and the same thing happened. Tanya's feet were frozen and now she was tied up, her situation was getting worse by the minute.

Eriscordia of course, was enjoying herself as her sick and twisted scam was working wonderfully. She tilted her head back and let out a vile laughter that echoed throughout the area but Tanya was far too worried to focus on someone laughing their ass off. Tanya thought about trying to reason with Ash even if it was no good but she knew she should give it a try.

"Ash! Please, don't do this, please I beg you."

Her pleading only fed his anger, as he walked even closer he unlaced his hands from his back and Tanya could clearly see his nails had been turned to razor sharp claws which looked like they could rip through titanium with ease. She whimpered and tried to back up but the ice and the vines wouldn't permit her to do so. Just as he was inches from her he stopped dead in his tracks and just stared at her. He stood there for a few seconds and then took two steps back and seconds later a giant Steelix rose from the ground.

The Steelix's intentions were to hit Ash with its strongest Dig attack but it clearly missed. The Steelix meant only one thing. Tanya's father had shown up right in the nick of time. Ash looked to his right side and saw the same old man he had seen in the hospital talking to Tanya running towards him.

Ash turned to face him and Marco returned the Steelix and released three Pokémon. An Absol, a Tyranitar and a Gyradose appeared right before Ash but he did not seem threatened by the Pokémon before him. Marco was going to order the Pokémon to fire their strongest Hyper Beam attack but he remembered he was dealing with an innocent victim.

"Djinn, Arawn, Suijin! Pay close attention! Subdue him but do not harm him."

The three colossal Pokémon ran towards Ash while Marco unleashed a Charmeleon to release his daughter. The Charmeleon used Flamethrower on the ice and slashed the vines off of her. Meanwhile Ash simply closed his eyes and let the three charging Pokémon get closer. A strange black aura surrounded Ash and the sun was beginning to be blocked by a black circular shade.

Tanya and Marco knew what was happening; they stared at the events unfolding before them and panicked. "Oh, my God! Dad, get me out of here! Druantia, please hurry up!"

"She's going as fast as she can!" Druantia the Charmeleon slashed away at the vines now that the ice had been melted. Once freed Tanya ran away and warned everyone in the area to hide in any building available.

Eriscordia was having the time of her life. She knew exactly what attack he was about to use. Marco thought of something so he turned to his Pokémon who were themselves just as nervous. The wind was blowing hard and the sky seemed to be engulfed in darkness. Ash himself seemed to be wrapped in a sheet of black darkness as he stood there concentrating.

"Listen to me, all of you. Use Reflect and hang on as much as you can. We have to prevent as much damage as we can." The three loyal Pokémon acknowledged the order and used Reflect. The aura from Ash's body seemed to float up and materialize into what appeared to be a black, transparent raven. It flew high into the sky and expanded in size until it was as big as a Wailmer.

The raven opened its massive beak and from it shot out a shadowy beam towards the entire town. Every living thing touched by the shadowy beam was instantly knocked out its feet or seriously hurt. As sudden as it appeared it disappeared and left behind dozens of injured people and Pokémon. Fortunately the Reflect set off by Marco's Pokémon prevented a small amount of damage but it still counted as something.

The sky and sun returned to their normal statues. Ash however had not changed; his eyes were glowing a bright yellow and walked slowly towards Marco. From the local Pokémon Center Brock, May, Max and Pikachu watched in horror as they saw their friend cause so much damage.

Pikachu had had enough so it ran outside. Max grabbed it and said. "No, you could get hurt!"

Pikachu didn't care whether it would get hurt or not. It just wanted his best friend back. It zapped Max with its lightest Thundershock. Max let go and May ran over to her little brother as Pikachu went outside. Pikachu ran as fast as its little legs could go and once it was near Ash it shocked him with its most powerful Thunder attack it had. The thunder raced down from the sky and hit him directly. After the thunder subsided Pikachu was amazed to see Ash still standing there as if nothing had happened.

"Pi! Pi, pika?" Pikachu was simply stunned by the result; even a pathetic Thundershock was enough to bring him down. It knew it had to do something to stop Ash from causing so much destruction so it ran towards him at full speed and its tail began to glow a white color. It leapt high into the air and was going to use Iron Tail but Ash had grabbed it by the tail just inches away from his back.

"Pika!" Ash smiled wickedly and tossed the small Pikachu and it hit its back on a tree. Pikachu fell on its back and squealed in pain, it looked up at Ash and saw him raise his left hand and a white orb formed in the middle of his palm. Pikachu braced itself for the hit but before Ash could launch the attack he let out a sharp yell and fell on his knees and then fell completely on the ground.

Pikachu looked behind Ash and saw Officer Jenny aiming a tranquilizer gun at Ash's back. Eriscordia saw this and shrieked madly. Her fun had been spoiled by a mere human and a cop nonetheless. Pikachu strained to its feet and walked over to Ash. He had attacked him but Pikachu didn't care at all, it put its little paw on his shoulder and shook him to try and wake him up. Officer Jenny walked towards Pikachu and picked it up gently and said.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine, he's just sleeping Dr. Nevalainen!"

Marco came running and checked Ash's pulse which was racing. He removed the two tranquilizer darts from his back and looked at them. Both were of a sickly orange color and Marco realized Ash had been hit with a dose strong enough to bring down two Wailmer. He showed Officer Jenny the dart and said.

"Are you kidding me with this? This could bring down three Wailmer. Are you trying to give the boy an OD?"

Officer Jenny crossed her arms across her chest and looked at the doctor in question and finally said. "Excuse me, but this boy has just caused this."

Officer Jenny pointed with her hand the disaster Ash had done. Trees had been torn from the root, cars were dismantled, and windows were either cracked or broken. A big amount of people had been injured due to the strange attack. Parts of the sidewalks were lifted revealing the dirt under them and there was even a tree that had been ripped from the ground and had pierced a Corolla through the door.

Marco retrieved his argument due to the fact that Officer Jenny was right and acted out in a manner which was called for. Marco being a doctor couldn't help but react that way but he knew she was right.

Hours later Ash slowly opened his eyes and looked around. His sight was a tad foggy and he had a really bad headache. He sat up and saw what appeared to be a room. A room like he had never seen before. It was painted in two colors; one set of walls was painted black and the other crimson red. There was a black drawer with a mirror attached to it and on the drawer were some black and blood red candles. He also noticed a small plush toy; it was a Togetic plush toy. He also noticed the bed whose frames were black and the silky bedclothes were crimson red.

It was indeed a very unique room but he felt no different from it. Something about it called to something he felt deep inside of him. He sat up on the side of the bed and shook his head to see if his eyesight would improve. As he sniffled and tried to get up he heard someone on the other side of the room say. "Well, it was about time you got up."

He followed the sound of the voice and on the other side he saw a girl who looked to be about his age. She was tall, had black, medium length hair, dark brown eyes. She was wearing long black pants and some black boots almost similar to the ones Eriscordia was wearing; she also had on a black long sleeved fishnet shirt on and a black tank top shirt on. Her make up was just like Eriscordia's. Her face was pale, her eye shadow was black and gray and her lipstick color was also black.

She was sitting on a chair in front of what looked like a computer. She moved the mouse a little and then walked over and sat next to Ash and said. "You look like crap. You need something?" Ash shook his head one more time and said. "Yeah? Well, I feel like crap. Got anything for headaches?"

The girl smiled, being a doctor's daughter and a nurse's sister she knew there were plenty of medications all over the house. She got up and left. Ash's eyesight was starting to get better and as it did he looked around some more and then just dropped his head on one of the pillows. Minutes later the girl returned with two pills and a glass of water.

He took the pills and swallowed them and gulped down the water in one swallow. He sighed deeply and said. "So…where the hell am I?"


	5. Chapter 5

"At my house. I'm Karin. Tanya's sister. So…Ash is it?"

"Yeap."

"Cool name. So what brought you guys to Northbridge Valley?"

As soon as he heard she referred to him as "you guys" he immediately remembered Brock, Pikachu and the others and said. "You mean Brock and May are here?"

"Oh, yeah. They're right outside in the living room. You want to go…"

"Oh, God, no! Give me a few minutes to clear my head." Ash dropped back on the bed and put one of the pillows on his face and exhaled deeply. All was silent for a few minutes but then he spoke up again remembering her question.

"We heard some people talking about how they caught some really strong and rare Pokémon up in a valley somewhere. Of course to me it was like telling a 5 year old where to find candy. I asked and they said Northbridge Valley so…here we are. So what's your story?"

"Well, I have been trying for two years to get my father and sister and brother to let me go off on my own journey 'cept they think I'm "too young" and don't know how to handle my Pokémon well. That of course is nothing but pure BS!"

Ash chuckled under the pillow and remembered just how nervous and insecure his mom was when it was time to let him go so he pretty much understood Karin's frustration. Out of curiosity Ash put the pillow aside and said. "So what Pokémon do you have?"

Karin reached to the end of the bed and took a black backpack and took out six pokeballs and released a Seviper, an Ekans, an Arbock, a Crobat, a Sableye and a Togetic. The Pokémon chirped greetings, at least all except the Sableye who walked away. Karin sighed and said. "That little Sableye's name is Spellbound. She never listens to me. She's my most powerful Pokémon but she just won't listen. My dad says the day I get her to listen is the day I can go on my own journey."

The way Karin described Spellbound sounded much like how his Charizard acted before. He remembered all the embarrassing moments his Charizard put him through and all the battles they could have won if only it had listened to him but he still cared for his Charizard no matter what. "I have a Charizard who wouldn't listen to me either."

"It's a pain in the ass for sure. The Seviper's name is Cruxshadow, the Ekans is Qntal, the Arbock is Collide, the Crobat is Akasha and that little cutie is Symphony." She pointed out at the Togetic who smiled at Ash as she was being introduced. Karin had a bit of a pattern when it came to her Pokémon but Symphony seemed to have broken that chain. He also wondered about their names so he asked.

"You seem to have a pattern concerning your Pokémon. And how'd you come up with their names?"

"Yeah. I'm a bit of an oddball but most people say I'm "creepy". Guess you can tell. Symphony was the first Pokémon I had ever received; she was a birthday present for my 3rd birthday. And their names? Well, I name them after my favorite bands, songs or whatever sounds interesting."

Meanwhile in the living room Marco and Tanya had brought Brock, May, Max and Pikachu over to their house to wait for Ash to wake up. The living room was rather classy. The walls were painted a light gray color; there was a large wide screen TV set on a metal entertainment center at the end of the room, in between the sofas and the TV was a glass coffee table with a beautiful flower ornament. The ornament had white roses with a few candles in between the roses, to the left of the table was a huge window looking out at the park, the window itself had elegant brown and long curtains that reached the floor.

They all sat on the sofas and had been talking for a while. They explained why they had come to Northbridge Valley. Marco was going to explain what they had seen a few hours ago but he wanted to wait till Ash woke up so he wouldn't have to explain the same thing twice. Tanya was in the kitchen fixing up some tea and biscuits for the kids and for her father and her sister.

As Tanya was bringing over to the living room a wide metallic, yet elegant, tray filled with biscuits Max and Pikachu were drooling over them as the smell was drifted all over the room by the air conditioner. As she passed by the hallway that led to the bedrooms she heard some laughter coming from her sister's room. She assumed Ash had woken up and he and Karin were talking. She placed the tray on the coffee table and went to Karin's room.

She opened the door and a blast of cold air washed over her. Karin was always putting the air conditioner very cold. She looked in and saw Karin lowering her head on the computer's keyboard laughing loudly while Ash was on the floor laughing even louder. Tanya saw the monitor and saw some strange cartoons talking while the two kids laughed so hard tears were flowing from their eyes. Tanya sighed and said. "Okay guys I have some biscuits in the living room."

Both Karin and Ash looked at Tanya and laughed even harder as they kept listening to the cartoons on the computer. Karin wiped some tears from her eyes and began to turn off the computer as Ash tried to get up from the floor but fell back as he heard another comment from the cartoons and managed to say while laughing. "That was freakin' great! That was so funny!"

Karin had turned off the computer and said as she laughed and helped Ash get up on his feet. "I know! I can watch these for hours and still laugh!"

"All right you guys. Come on, the others are in the living room waiting for you to wake up Ash."

Tanya led the way towards the living room while Ash and Karin walked right behind her while laughing from the cartoons. Pikachu saw Ash up and well so it jumped right into his arms and hugged him. Ash returned the hug and said. "Hey buddy! You okay?"

"Pi pikachu! Pika pi!" Pikachu replied over flowed with joy to see Ash acting like him old self again. Karin saw Pikachu and petted him as she said. "Aw, he's adorable!" Pikachu blushed a little as it put one of its paws behind its head in a shy manner. They all laughed a little but then Marco cleared his throat and stood up in front of the group.

"Well, I'm sure you are all aware of what happened earlier today." As he said that Ash lowered his shoulders as he remembered the chaos he created. Marco smiled and went on. "I think I better start from the very beginning. In the year 927 B.C. what we know as Northbridge town was just a vast land waiting to be claimed by anyone. Remarkably two small civilizations came to the valley at the same time, after much debates they tried to settle things like civilized human beings but alas…war broke out between them. That war claimed many people and many Pokémon as well. Now in these two civilizations there were what you would call witchdoctors.

"These two met up one night and came up with a plan to stop the useless bloodshed and violence. Now both leaders from both civilizations had children of their own. One was a young man and the other was a young lady. The young man was what you would call weird. Weird in a sense…"

"Like Karin." Tanya couldn't help but interrupt her father at that moment just to annoy her sister. They all laughed and Karin said in a serious tone but joking of course. "Oh, I hate you."

"Now, now girls. Yes, if you want to put it that way. Now the young lady was cruel and spiteful and selfish. Out in public she would act like a kind and caring person but when alone she was anything but. The two heirs were unique. One was dark and kind the other beautiful and cruel. The spiritual guides saw this as an opportunity and took it."

"The young man was given powers of terrible destruction and darkening control over the shadows. The young lady was bestowed with the same powers. They figured her cruelty could only be stopped by something just as dark but with a touch of humanity. The son was the perfect candidate and so the real war was unfolded. These powers were amazing indeed. They allowed them to use any attack known to mankind and Pokémon alike but along with them they had a few attacks that were theirs alone. Like the one you saw earlier."

"But their plan did not go as they had planned. Both civilizations gathered together and then broke off into two groups. Group one was very populated and ruthless and that group was right along side with the daughter. Group two unfortunately consisted of very few people and led by it was the son. Why the outcome? The son as I said earlier was…well…not very trusted by all except for those who knew him well and knew he stood for what was right. Unfortunately people base their decisions on looks instead of what's in their hearts."

"Why do I get the feeling this has some sickening moral lesson to it?" Karin laughed as Ash said that but the rest did not find anything funny about it. Marco looked at him seriously and said. "Actually, yes, it does. Along with the knowledge of every attack they also had the ability to shape shift into any Pokémon they wanted to and they had a shape of their own."

Marco pointed out at a painting of two creatures standing under a full moon. One was a figure dressed in a black hooded cloak with huge devil like black wings and the other was dressed in a white hooded cloak with huge white and silver angel like wings. He then pointed out at another painting. It had the same background as the one they saw before but this one had the two creatures in their true form.

Where the white cloaked figure stood now stood a humanoid type of creature, at first it seemed lovely for it resembled an angel but a closer look at its eyes sent a shiver down one's spine. The eyes were blood red and if that wasn't enough it had fangs in its mouth. However it did have on a beautiful white and silver long dress that reached the floor, its wings were massive and lovely. Where the black-cloaked figure stood now stood a four-legged creature that sent even more chills down one's spine. It represented a gargoyle. It had huge transparent black wings, a long tail and massive claws. Its eyes were burning with a yellow color and it had three horns on its forehead. The creature was a true nightmare to behold but they knew that gargoyle was not what it seemed to be.

Ash stared into the painting and right into the gargoyle. He seemed a bit restless to think he could wield such power and darkness. Ash knew at some point that a face-off between Eriscordia and himself would be brought up. That was of no trouble for him for he remembered how Eriscordia tricked him into attacking innocent people to please her sickening scheme. He put the last pieces together and said.

"So why am I involved here?"

"The war was devastating and caused even more damage so both spiritual guides decided to trap the daughter. They told the son of an attack he knew that could do that. The attack is known as Shadow's Light. This attack of course is the one strongest attack he could pull off that could defeat her. She of course knew an attack that could beat him as well. Light's Shadow."

"I guess you could guess the outcome of the battle the son brought down the daughter and the guides managed to seal her inside a black sphere. Just like one would catch a Pokémon in a pokeball. Now before being trapped forever in the sphere she pulled off one last filthy trick. She somehow managed to kill him before being trapped, but somehow his essence had been kept alive through the very white sphere he was to be kept inside of and a curse was placed on both spheres."

Ash, Brock, May, Max and Pikachu gasped and as they waited for the doctor to explain his last statement and May asked. "What curse is that?" The doctor looked down and Tanya spoke out and said. "Any human to come in contact with the white sphere would be invaded by the son's essence and at the same time unleash the daughter out into the world"

Karin then mentioned another important detail about the history of the story that had been unfolded to them. "The daughter and son's names were never revealed but they were later given names to befit them well. She as you may know by now is called Eriscordia. The name broken in half is Eris and Discordia. Both are known as goddesses of destruction and chaos."

"Oh yeah, sounds like her all right." Ash said as he took a sip of the tea Tanya had made earlier for them and asked. "And what of the son?"

"He was named Thanades. Broken in half it consists of Thanatos, the god of the night and darkness. And Hades, god of the Underworld. Both names were split from different Roman and Greek entities."

Later that day they were told they could stay in the extra guest rooms they had. At night as Ash tried to sleep he couldn't get a single drop of sleep. If he closed his eyes he would open them again seconds later, there was far too much in his mind to just doze off to sleep. Finally around 2: 06 in the morning he fell asleep calmly. Pikachu had fallen asleep beside him as it always did for the past four years. The room was surprisingly big and roomy, not to mention the air conditioner worked wonderfully well. On one side of the room was one of the bunk beds, Max slept on the bottom bunk while May took the top bunk. On the opposite side of the room was a second bunk bed, Brock was at the top bunk and Ash was at the bottom bunk finally sleeping peacefully. Behind each bunk bed was a wide window which overlooked the huge backyard that faced the woods.

As Pikachu slept it was suddenly woken up by a tapping sound on the window. Its ears rose up and its eyes widened as it looked out the window to see what made that sound that woke it up. "Pika?" It said as it turned its head slightly to the right as it looked out the window. It jumped out of the bed and jumped up on the window's frame to get a better view of the backyard.

Pikachu saw nothing and as it turned to walk back to the bed it heard another sound. Pikachu turned its head quickly to see but there was nothing although it knew there was something out there indeed. It leapt off the frame and worked its way towards the door. There it leapt towards the top of a drawer that was right beside the door and managed to open the door with its paws. Once out in the hallway it looked left and right and walked to where the front door was.


	6. Chapter 6

To Pikachu's surprise the front door was wide open but everyone had gone to sleep hours ago. It slowly walked out into the front yard but there was no sign of anyone anywhere. Again it heard the same sound coming from some bushes next to it so Pikachu decided to check what it was. It ran into the bushes and ran to the backyard but there was no one there.

As Pikachu decided to give it up it turned around and ran into a shadowy figure. It stood in defense mode and sparks wildly danced from its red cheeks preparing itself in case it had to put up a fight. The figure simply lifted an arm and put it to its lips and blew a pink sort of fume at Pikachu. When the pink fume reached its nose Pikachu fell asleep.

"Pikachu! Pika pi!" Ash suddenly sat up as he heard his best friend calling out to him from the room's door. He blinked quickly to clear his vision from the fuzzy sight of having his eyes closed for so long. He saw Pikachu standing at the door and saw it standing in two legs and pointing towards the end of the hallway.

Ash got up and headed to the door as he said in a groggy, sleepy voice. "What is it Pikachu?"

"Pika pika. Pika…chu. Chu!" Pikachu ran towards the front door and Ash followed behind the small yellow mouse and asked. "Hey, where are we goin'?"

Ash chased Pikachu outside the front door, once out he saw Pikachu turn towards the back but as he was about to follow his friend he froze and looked back at the front door. He asked himself how on Earth it was wide open in the middle of the night and especially when everyone was sound asleep. He ignored it and went after Pikachu to see what was wrong. Once he reached the backyard he carefully looked around.

The backyard was huge. It had a white picket fence with thin vines raiding up from the ground of it and it surrounded the entire yard. There was a small pond with a ceramic bridge crossing over the small pond and some green bushes decorated the south side of the fence. In the middle of the yard was a wooden swing that had been painted white and by the looks of it very used.

Ash walked towards the swing and sat on it and began to swing smoothly back and forth in a slow rhythm. He looked down on the grass as the night air gently swept through it. As the air hit him he felt a cold chill announcing the coming of winter which was only two months away. A sudden peace overwhelmed him; he inhaled deeply and looked up at the night sky. There was a beautiful and enchanting full moon in the sky shinning its soft silvery light down on the Earth. Despite the fact the doctor's house was close to the town there was a deep silence, there were cars and a main road but the sound of car engines ripping through the black concrete path was absent.

A rustle in the bushes disturbed his inner peace and he need not guess or even bother to look into the bushes to see who or what that was. He sighed deeply and stood up and as he turned around he received a harsh slap in the face. The slap had been given to him by none other than Eriscordia. His face had been thrown to the left side by the harsh greeting, Ash kept still and turned his eyes toward her and said coldly.

"Nice to see you too."

Eriscordia was furious and had no patience for his smart mouth; she tightened her fist in anger. Ash saw that and turned towards her and put his hands behind his back and a grin invaded his face which of course angered Eriscordia even more.

"How dare you! It all would have worked out better if you would have gotten rid of that little witch and her father!"

"Ohh! I see…you…were using me to do your dirty work. Is that right?"

"Oh please! Get over yourself. You enjoyed every second of it, you loved hearing all those…people screaming for their lives and you loved watching the town get ripped apart."

At that minute Ash actually snarled at her. Eriscordia of course smiled in a way that made him see just how he was turning. She laughed and said. "You and I are alike. We have the same vile, nasty, dark and evil hearts buried in our chests, you just have to let go and let your true colors fly."

"Don't for one second think you and I are anything alike!"

"Oh, but we are alike. You just don't want to see it but you have all ready changed both inside and out, I know it, they know it and most importantly…you know it." As she said that she put her index finger on his nose and turned around to look at the pond. Ash followed her to keep a close eye on her in case she tried anything and said.

"Fine. I know I…changed somehow but that doesn't make me any less like me. Or any more like you for that matter."

"Well, I know this much for certain." She grabbed him by the chin and gripped tightly as she said in a low whisper to add more to the intimidating threat which of course just fueled his desire to be less like her as she put it. "The way I see it is you either join me or…perish."

Ash looked at her coldly and as he grabbed her by the wrist he tightened his grip and said in a cold matter as he kept tightening his grip. "I'd rather "perish" than to join you and your little sick and twisted games. I know all about you, we were told about what you did." At that very second Eriscordia laughed and said. "Oh, please! Those people will say anything to get you to side with them. They fear you and would rather be in your good side for their sake than to truly trust you."

Ash slapped her hand away and harshly snapped back. "That's not true!"

Eriscordia stood there smiling while Ash just stood there seriously looking at her, there was a part of him, which believed her, and a part which refused to believe a single word coming from her. It was a no win situation for him, he didn't know the Nevalainens well enough to actually fully trust them but he knew Eriscordia played dirty. Eriscordia lifted her shoulders and walked up to him and said in a calm voice.

"Well, you have your facts. You do what you want but if you stand in my way I will not hesitate to take action."

"Neither will I."

Eriscordia smiled yet again and said in a foul manner this time as she swiftly waved her hand and a pink dust like substance was created around her. She walked towards him and gently passed her finger on top of his lips and said. "It's a date then." Having said that she disappeared into the pink substance and vanished into the night.

Ash was furious by Eriscordia's words. He could feel the anger rising from within, he felt like torching a tree to try and cool down. He snarled lowly and as he turned around he heard the bushes rustling and from them walked out Pikachu who had been asleep in the bushes.

"Pika?"

Ash smiled at the electric mouse and picked it up and said after he let out a loud yawn. "It's pretty late. Let's go back inside, what do you say, buddy?"

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu lifted its paw in the air and smiled at its trainer and both walked back into the house to get some sleep. Once back in bed Ash could not stop thinking about how Eriscordia said they were exactly the same inside. Those words bothered him to no end but he couldn't help but agree with her at some points, he knew he wasn't the same anymore, not deep inside at least.

In the morning Eriscordia was walking through the park. As the sun was rising over the mountains the Pidgeys were up and chirping about as they flew through the sky searching for food. She sat on a bench and looked right into the town's buildings and saw some people walking towards the hospital. An idea sparked within her and a wicked smile shun in her face.

In the hospital Tanya and Marco were all ready sitting in the cafeteria having breakfast. The hearty meal was grand and in the table sat other nurses and doctors who were friends with Tanya and Marco. As they spoke and chattered other people walked inside and joined them for breakfast. After they were done Marco went on to the fifth floor and Tanya went to the front counter to see what she had for the day. Her first assignment was to check on some people in Intensive Care so she went to the elevators and punched in the third floor to get to work.

Once in the third floor she walked down the busy hallway towards the end of it to the IC room. When she arrived she was greeted by an old woman who had a serious heart attack the week before.

"Why, hello, darling. How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine, thank you Mrs. Cotton. So how are you?"

Mrs. Cotton lifted her hands in gesture and said. "I've seen better days, dear."

Both women chuckled and as Tanya put her clipboard down to check on some of the medical equipment she heard some screaming through the window. They looked at each other puzzled and Tanya ran to the window to get a glimpse of what was happening. Tanya reached the window and looked down on the street. What she saw shook her up rather badly.

Outside of the hospital stood Ash, he seemed rather angry and disturbed by something. Right behind him were several shadows in the shape of several different Pokémon. He slowly walked inside the hospital and as he did so did the shadows, he simply walked but the shadows shot out attacks such as Shadow Ball and Night Shade. Suddenly they all stopped and Ash looked right at the front counter and as he stared it caught on fire.

He stayed there as the shadows ran all over the hospital destroying some equipment and, they ran to every floor scaring people and destroying stuff. It seemed as if all they were doing was just damaging and not hurting people. Tanya ran down to the first floor and as she got out of the elevators her father saw her and ran to her and said. "It's Ash. He sent those shadows. We have to get everyone out of here."

Back in the house Ash, Karin, Brock, May, Max and Pikachu were in the backyard playing a bit of touch football. They had released all of their Pokémon to make things more interesting. As the huge group of kids and Pokémon played around they soon grew tired and just sat in the backyard and Skitty saw the pond and ran to it. At the edge it looked at its reflection and splashed around with its paws. Grovyle saw a tree and climbed it and sat in the tree's cool shade and remained relaxed as the rest of the Pokémon ran around.

Karin saw Grovyle and was in complete awe. She admired it from the bottom of the tree and said as Ash passed by. "Is that Grovyle yours?"

"Yeah."

"He's awesome. I always wanted to see one."

Symphony saw Grovyle and flew up to it and looked closely at it. It chirped and flew back down now that it had gotten a glimpse of the strange Pokémon up close. Karin and May went back in the house to gather a few snacks and drinks for themselves and the Pokémon as well. In the kitchen they took everything that was sweet and tasty, Oreos, Cameos and other snacks were snatched and about a dozen of cans of soda were also brought out.

As both girls took the snacks out Karin noticed a note on the kitchen counter, she took it and read it to herself and sighed. May saw her standing there and asked if there was something wrong and said. "Oh, nothing. Just a note saying I have to go into town and look for someone. Mind of you guys watch over the house while I go?"

"Sure, no problem. Are you sure you want to go by yourself? You could ask one of the guys to company you."

As May said that Ash and Brock walked in and overheard the conversation between the girls and Ash said. "I could go with you." Brock took the snacks out of May's hands and said. "You three go on, Max and I will look after the place."

Karin smiled and said. "Thanks Brock. Well, c'mon guys, Petrov's place ain't too far from here." As they said that the three kids went out into town to look for an old friend of the families. Petrov Zimmer was one of the people in Northbridge Town who knew the history better than anyone, better than Marco himself.

As the three young kids walked past the hospital they saw a huge crowd of people and police surrounding the hospital's entrance. They stopped for a minute to see what was going on and as an old woman laid eyes on Ash she screamed loudly and ran away. The crowd looked at the old woman who was pointing out at him as she ran and the entire crowd looked at him with fear. Officer Jenny walked over to Ash and said. "Hmmm, they always come back to the scene of the crime."

Ash looked at Karin and May and then at Officer Jenny and said. "What do you mean?" Officer Jenny pointed out at the hospital's entrance and they saw the hospital had been attacked by something. The walls looked like they had been burned and slashed by some creature with huge claws, there was a bit of a fire at the front counter which was being put out by a Mudkip and its trainer and the elevators had been destroyed. Officer Jenny took some handcuffs and said as she looked at Ash.

"I'm sorry but this for our own and good as yours as well."

"But I didn't do anything!"

Karin and May ran and stood in front of Ash and spread their arms as they tried to block Officer Jenny from arresting him for something he didn't do and Karin said. "Officer, he's been at our house all morning and night long. He hasn't left our sight for one minute."

"That's right! All we've been doing is playing with our Pokémon in Dr. Marco's backyard."

Marco and Tanya were very confused; they saw Ash tear the hospital apart with the help of some shadows but Karin and May were sure he was with them all along. Both looked at Officer Jenny but she wasn't so convinced but she said. "All right. I believe you guys."

As her words swept through the crowd everyone began to protest the officer's decision. Some people waved their fists in the air showing their anger and concern and some shook their heads but only a few tried to enforce the officer's choice.

"Now, now everyone! We mustn't argue with Officer Jenny!"

"What if he does it again and creates more chaos and injuries?" A man from the back protested as he held up a bat and waved it in the air in rage as a homicidal maniac would when his victim would escape. Another man then protested that statement by replying. "What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty!" The crowd then went into a frenzy which resulted in people fighting and arguing, nothing serious, it was mostly people calling each other names, some shoving each other and others just yelling.

Ash looked at the crowd and fell silent. How could a crowd become so out of control in only a matter of seconds? Mixed feelings of anger and sadness overwhelmed him, he tried to figure out a way to stop the madness but all he could do was stand there. If he pulled off an attack the crowd would just have more prove of him as something he wasn't. As he looked around he managed to tune out the crowd's angry screams and vulgar and harsh words. He also came to the realization that he had been set up by none other than Eriscordia herself, he figured she must have been angry by him ruining her plans.

As the crowd began to get a bit out of control as several people shoved each other and began to call one another very harsh names there was a sudden sound of an ear shattering screech that brought everyone down on their knees. All in the area covered their ears in a vain attempt to filter the maddening screech, the screech lasted for about two minutes and then all was silent. Everyone turned around only to look upon an old man beside a small Whismur. The old man had white hair and a gray streak on the right side, he had faint green eyes that let all who looked into them know he had seen plenty in this world. He wore a gray tailor suit that seemed to have been made in Europe or Italy; he had on a pair of very well shinned shoes of fine leather.

The old man walked towards the crowd with a very serious look on his face which indicated he was very disappointed in the sight before him. He walked up to Officer Jenny, Marco and Tanya and cleared his throat and said. "Last time I looked I lived in a town where people lived…not wild animals!" The man had a strange accent, as strange as Tanya's but more refined and deeper. The old man then looked at Ash and said just as seriously.

"You've caused quit a dilemma, young man. All I've heard are accusations and not once did I hear anyone say they have the evidence to back those accusations up."

A security guard came forward with a videotape and said to the old man. "We have him on footage causing this. Not to mention he was also responsible for the mess from yesterday." The old man grabbed the tape and said as he looked at Ash. "We're going to view this. Officer Jenny, Marco and I and if you are identified you will be locked up until we figure out what to do."

Karin and May gasped in horror but Ash remained silent as the ever rising anger within him began to burn away at him from inside and said in a cold manner. "But I did not do anything. I was at their freaking house the entire time! No, there's no tape to prove that I was but I am not lying! You have to believe me."

The old man shook his head and went into the security room along with Officer Jenny and Marco to see the contents in it. After 25 minutes of a grueling wait all three of them came back but with a look in their faces that indicated the news they brought was not good at all. Ash's heart began to pound at a fast rate and his breathing had accelerated from the mere look on their faces. Marco lowered his gaze as well as Officer Jenny but the old man stood there looking at him indifferently and said as he grabbed the handcuffs.

"It was not an easy decision, Ash, but we have to think of everyone's safety including your own. Until we can find a way out of this mess you will be placed under arrest."

Ash looked at Officer Jenny and Marco and both looked at him sadly and then at the old man who looked at him seriously with no emotion in his eyes. Then he looked at the handcuffs in disbelieve and an urge to cry couldn't be helped but he did not just to show he was tougher than he looked. None of this seemed fair, receiving the "gift" which in sense was turning out to be nothing more than a damnation and now being falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. Karin and May were struck with disbelieve and anger with a mix of sadness to see a friend go through such a terrible moment.

Ash knew he couldn't change the old man's mind but he could however stick to his defense. He looked at the man and the officer who was about to place him under arrest and said in a sad whisper. "I didn't do it…" The tough guy routine had collapsed and a tear raced down his cheek and the girls couldn't help but cry as well. Officer Jenny wanted nothing more than to say he could leave but she had a deep and strong respect for the old man that stood in front of her. Marco felt the same way but he knew the decision was not easy and felt it was all right since he and the town would be safer that way and he trusted the old man.

Ash finally gave up and lowered his gaze as he dried off the tears in his eyes. Millions of thoughts were crusading through his mind at the moment but he remained calm and collected as Officer Jenny placed the hand cuffs on his wrists behind his back. Some people cheered and others lay silent as they witnessed an act of injustice take place. Anger quickly took hold of Ash and he looked at the ground and his eyes began to glow with a bright yellow color. He sensed a hostile essence in the area and then saw an Espeon sitting by an Oak tree. Immediately he knew it was Escordia and he also saw a smile which disgusted him to no end. He snarled and as his lips rose he revealed his teeth, his canines were now longer which gave him an even darker image. Eriscordia of course felt no threat since she knew he knew very well that of he tried anything he would only get into deeper trouble. He heard Eriscordia's voice in his head and quickly knew it was telepathy. "I told you to stay out of my way." Ash of course answered back with a rather angry tone. "Consider yourself dead, witch!"


	7. Chapter 7

Karin and May watched as Officer Jenny and the old man led Ash towards the police station. May sighed sadly and Karin looked at her father with question and said. "Dad, he didn't do it." Marco looked as they brought him inside and said as he looked at Tanya and Karin. "I believe you girls. But…we have to be careful." Karin was just as angry as May but May couldn't just speak up like Karin could to her father so Karin said. "Then why did you let Petrov get away with a decision like that?"

"Petrov is a very respected member of this society and he has all of my respect. Besides, he may be safer in there than out here."

Both girls then walked back to the house to tell the bad news to Brock and Max. Pikachu overheard the situation and was also saddened, perhaps more sad than anyone else in the house. None of them thought what they had decided was fair or even right. They did however think the video tape was weird, how could Ash have been in two places at once? The tape had the time when they were all in the backyard playing football.

Meanwhile at the police station Officer Jenny led Ash to the last cell of the station. That cell being the furthest from all the real criminals and scumbags from the town. Deep inside she knew there was something wrong with having him locked up but the evidence was there on that tape, but Karin and May were strong in their argument. She shook all thoughts off her head and kept walking to the end. As they passed by some of the other inmates greeted him with jeers and ridiculous comments.

"Oh, look boys we got us a young'un."

"Ha ha, fresh meat"

Ash rolled his eyes and kept looking straight. Once they reached the last cell Officer Jenny opened it and Ash walked in. She closed the barred door and locked it, Ash walked to the end of the cell and leaned on the wall and sighed deeply. Officer Jenny could tell he was very angry, she didn't blame him though; she would have felt the same way if it happened to her. Officer Jenny felt this was wrong for some reason so she did all she could to make it look less unfair.

"Hey, if you need anything just let me know. Anything you want I'll get for you, so just let me know, okay?" Ash scoffed and kept leaning on his back on the wall as he lifted his right leg and put his foot on the wall. He could tell Officer Jenny was trying to be nice but he was in no mood to be nice himself so he said in a bitter tone. "How 'bout a rope?"

Officer Jenny didn't grasp the sarcasm in his request so she asked. "A rope? Why do you need a rope for?"

Ash looked at her seriously and studied her face, he knew she didn't know what he was talking about but in his state of anger he answered as he looked away. "So I can hang myself with it."

"I'm just trying to be nice."

"I have just been arrested for something I didn't do, this has been one long-ass week, and there's a lot of weird stuff going on! Excuse me if I seem a little moody!"

Officer Jenny sighed and then walked back to her desk to continue on some paperwork she had been doing before she was called to the hospital. She hated putting innocent people behind bars but there was not much she could do about it, she did however get an idea. She rushed back to Ash's cell and said as she held one of the bars with one hand. "I have an idea. Just hold on until tonight."

Ash sat up from the floor and looked at the officer not completely sure what she meant by that statement. He agreed and sat back down as Officer Jenny left, there wasn't much to do after all and he knew if he escaped it would just make things worse for him. He looked at his feet as he moved them and then sighed deeply; the boredom was beginning to get to him but he did however think of something to do. He knew how to control the attacks and knew just about every single one of them but he still had only a vague idea of the ones only he could pull off. He then looked at the wall and could tell by the texture that a single Hyper Beam could turn that wall into dust. But he held down since Officer Jenny seemed to have a plan up her sleeve.

That afternoon May, Karin and the others were uneasy thinking just how Ash must have felt being locked up in jail for who knew how long. They also couldn't help but feel guilty for not trying to get him out of that terrible place he had been thrown into like a common criminal but they had no choice in the matter so the decided to see him later in the afternoon.

After a few hours of hanging about, a little after sunset Karin, May, Brock, Max and Pikachu went to town to spend some time with Ash. As they passed by the hospital they could see several workers and carpenters working to fix the damage. They also looked towards a path Karin was looking at as they passed by; it was old man Petrov's path to his mansion. The man was a historian and owned a museum in Alexandria City which was not so far from Northbridge Town. Karin sighed deeply as she tried to figure out why he had been so unfair in his decision towards Ash; usually he was kind and caring and believed strongly in the fact that everyone deserves a second chance.

As the sun sunk under the mountain roots the sky was starting to get dark and as the street lights turned on they were approaching the police station. Northbridge being a peaceful town and almost always tranquil Karin knew only Officer jenny would remain behind until a replacement came by at midnight. As they walked past the gate of the station they saw two officers leaving and one of them walking back inside. One of the officers stopped the small group of kids and said.

"Can I help you kids?"

"It's all right Officer Helga. We're just looking for Officer Jenny. Is she around?"

The other officer that had walked back in came out to see what they were doing there and said as he looked at Officer Helga. "Officer Jenny's not back yet. What in grim's name could she be doing that is taking so long?" Officer Helga sighed and said. "Want me to stay behind and wait till she comes back?"

"Sure." Officer Helga walked back inside and told the kids to follow her inside as well. Once in Max looked around and was suddenly frightened by the rough looking inmates in the cells. Pikachu however, went ahead and looked for Ash while May and Brock waited behind Karin who was talking to Officer Helga. Once Pikachu found Ash it tried to squeeze in between the bars but it was futile. Ash got up from the floor when he saw his loyal companion and went to the bars, he stretched his arm through the small space between them and petted Pikachu. Both looked at each other sadly to see one another so far. Both of them were just mere inches form each other but to see one another separated by steel bars felt like they were in separate continents.

May saw where Ash was being held in so she rushed over followed by Max, Brock and then Karin. They stood close by and asked if he was all right, a typical question any friend would ask under such conditions. Ash might have looked sad but he was feeling anything but sadness. The urge to strangle any one who would dare to annoy him would be a bit satisfying. As they spoke for a while the clock struck 9:15 and Officer Helga was growing both impatient and worried that Officer Jenny had not returned yet from where ever it was she went to. She picked up the phone and dialed down a number and waited for an answer. She let the phone ring for 5 minutes but then hung up and placed her right hand over her mouth in a worried gesture and looked at the kids.

"All right guys, it's getting pretty late. You should head back home." All of them including Pikachu jeered and muttered in a low enough tone so that Officer Helga could not hear them. One by one they slowly got up from sitting on the chairs and said their good byes which to their surprise were a tad more painful than they had anticipated; after all, they were leaving Ash in a jail cell. Officer Helga watched as they walked by her and as soon as Brock, who was the last one in line, walked past her she followed them to the front door. As Max opened the door he let out a scream as he looked up and saw some one standing in front of him aiming a 9mm right at Officer Helga.

The person right in front of Max was tall, who ever that was had on a black ski mask with holes where the eyes were located. From the form of the person they could tell it was a woman, it wasn't hard to figure out since one look at the breast area indicated it was a woman. This woman wore a long sleeve turtle neck shirt colored dark purple, perfect for blending into the darkness of the night, she also wore long tight black pants and some gray sneakers. Once she got a glimpse of Max and the other kids she muttered a few swears under her breath but proceeded to walk into the station.

Right behind the masked woman came in two more people. These weren't as tall and they certainly were men. They also wore ski masks and both wore black shirts, one was long sleeved and the other was not. Both of them also wore black pants but were baggy. Instead of guns they both held ropes and duct tape in their hands. Officer Helga tried to reach for her waist which was where she kept her 9mm but the woman in the ski mask yelled out several orders.

"Don't even think about it, officer! Now, do make this easier for us and sit at your desk." Officer Helga wanted nothing more but to place this assailant under arrest but she had to think of the safety of the kids and all the people inside so she did what she had been told. She sat down and the masked woman looked at one of the men beside her and signaled him towards Officer Helga. He walked over but Pikachu zapped him with a Thunderbolt attack. The other man quickly reached for his back and pulled out a strange looking gun. The nuzzle was very wide and when he pulled the trigger a huge silver object had been shot right out and in midair it expanded into what appeared to be a net. The net wrapped itself around Pikachu and it fell to the ground as it squealed.

Ash saw that and immediately became rather angry so he stretched his left hand out and made a swift movement and the man who trapped Pikachu was then lifted into the air and violently thrown to the ground. The very second he hit the cold hard floor he let out a pain sticking scream and the man that had been sent to tie up Officer Helga also reached for his back and drew a similar gun at Ash. He walked over to his cell while aiming the gun at him and said in a whisper. "We will not hurt any of you. Just sit back and let us do our job, trust me, you'll thank us later for this."

"Why should I trust you?"

"We're here to bust you out. Now shut up and back away from the damn bars. Your Pikachu is fine. I'd never hurt a Pokémon."

The man then walked back to check if his partner was all right. Ash wasn't completely sure if he was lying or telling the truth. He looked at Pikachu and saw it was not hurt; it was just tangled in that strange looking net, so he mellowed down since Pikachu wasn't hurt but he still kept an eye on the three masked assailants. The man on the floor was all right so he got up and tied Officer Helga to the chair and then placed duct tape over her mouth to make sure she wouldn't make any noise that would spoil their plans. All through out the whole ordeal Max, Brock, Karin and May remained perfectly still and silent afraid that they would end up hurt or worse.

After Officer Helga was tied and gagged the masked woman walked over to the desk and opened the top drawer and retrieved a set of keys which were kept together with a large and wide silver circle. She looked through all of them and gripped one of them and walked quickly towards Ash's cell. She opened it and grabbed him by the back of his shirt and said in a whisper. "Outside there's a car waiting for all of us. Get your Pikachu and friends and get in that car. Trust me." Ash was not sure especially now that it involved his friends. He stood there still and looked at the masked woman in question as he raised an eyebrow as if questioning whether he should go or not.

The woman sighed and said. "You have to trust me, Ash." He backed up a little bit surprised she knew his name. She smiled under the mask but no one could see of course and she said. "Will be a lot better than hanging yourself with a rope." He backed up a little more and blinked his eyes trying to figure out how on Earth she was capable of doing such thing. He didn't waste another minute and went over to Karin and the others and told them to follow him. They all went outside and saw a light green Tercel with tinted windows. The front window lowered to reveal yet another masked person, they gasped but the person waved to them to get in the car so they did.

Once inside the masked person said in a feminine voice. "Are you guys all right?" Ash began to untie Pikachu and said as he was doing so. "Yeah, we're okay." Brock, Karin, May and Max looked at each other confused and Brock said. "Um…what is going on?" At that minute the other three masked assailants ran into the car and the driver took off in a hurry.

The driver drove to the main street and as they came to the corner where the ice cream and toy store were they took a rough right turn and were soon on a dirt road that led outside of town and into what people who lived in Northbridge called Ghost Terrain. The name had befallen the land because of many ghost Pokémon that dwelled in the area and because in Halloween it was the perfect spot to scare any one.

They kept driving until they came upon a tall, old and rusty gate. The gate had seen better days, it was missing several bars from some spots and there were vines crawling up to the top of it. The car stopped and one of the men got out and opened it, as the car passed by slowly he climbed back in and the car drove through a cement road and stopped in the middle of a field. The driver turned the car off and everyone slowly got out.

Once outside Ash, Pikachu, Brock, May and Max realized they were standing in the middle of a massive cemetery. The cemetery was very old though; some of the tomb stones were broken in half and or covered in moss. Ash walked up to the one nearest him and removed some of the dirty old moss and saw the date on it which was 1783. Both he and Pikachu were amazed to see such an old graveyard. The masked woman who had broken into the police station cleared her throat and everyone else looked at her. The four masked assailants removed their masks and Brock, May and Max gasped.

The woman who had broken in was none other than Officer Jenny herself, the other two they did not know except for Karin. The guy standing on the right side of Officer Jenny was Dante, her older brother. Karin ran to him and hugged him tightly, the guy on the other side was a friend of theirs and the driver was Nurse Joy. Brock of course was found with his mouth wide open and in shock that the two women he so admired and ran after every time he saw them had done such an act.

"Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy? I've died and gone to heaven!" He ran up to both of them and held one of their hands and said. "You ladies were magnificent! Marvelous! No one could have pulled this off better than you!" Max of course had heard enough so he walked up to Brock and pulled him by the ear and dragged him away. They were shocked to see Nurse Joy dressed in a black tank top with a dark blue short skirt and Officer Jenny dressed in something else other than her uniform. Of course to pull off what they had just done they couldn't wear a blue police uniform or a pink nurse's outfit.


	8. Chapter 8

They all stood there in silence and minutes later Officer Jenny broke the silence. "You guys must be pretty confused, huh?" Ash walked up to the front of the group and as he crossed his arms he said. "You have no idea." Nurse Joy giggled in that sweet way she always did and said. "We decided to break you out of that horrible place. Jenny strongly believed you guys were telling the truth and this morning I passed by the doctor's house as I always do and saw you kids playing in the backyard and as soon as I reached town I saw well…"him" destroying the hospital."

Dante, Karin's older brother, stepped forward and looked at Ash and said. "Well, I see you touched the white sphere. Well, let's get to the point of this darling little meeting we have here. I assume my dad explained the history in the spheres, correct?" Ash and the others nodded and so Dante moved on to explain a little something about the spheres his father had not mentioned. "This is not the first time Eris and Thanades have gotten out. You're asking yourself how the hell could have Eris and Thanades been trapped back into the spheres? Well, usually it always ends pretty badly for who ever touched the white sphere." Dante stopped and sighed as he looked across the kids and said once more.

"Eris can be stopped with a move you know…" Ash knew the move so he finished the sentence for him. "Shadow's Light. I know."

"That's right. Now usually when hit with it Eris would be knocked out. It would be as if a Hydro Pump hit a Charmander. How do we get Eris back into the black sphere? Simple, we place the black sphere in the palm of her right hand and she will then be trapped in it." May was struck with the fact that Eriscordia had placed a curse on both spheres when they were first trapped in the sphere so she asked a question that was pretty much in all of their minds. "What if we manage to trap her into the sphere and she pulls off the curse she pulled off when first trapped?"

Dante shook his head and said as he looked at Ash. "Won't work. He isn't the original Thanades. The curse was meant for the original Thanades not those who followed." Ash was certainly relived to hear that but then he became both bothered and concerned with a question that popped into his head, a question he would rather ask quickly and get over it than to have it dwell in his mind and have it bother him. "Let's say I manage to beat Eris and trap her back in the sphere. What happens to me?"

They all looked at Dante and awaited his answer. In the back of his mind Ash knew there was a chance this venture would end either bad or good, it was far too early to tell but he had plenty of time to prepare for whatever fate had in store for him. Whatever was to happen he came to the conclusion that he would do all he could within his power to return Eriscordia to where she belonged. Dante also thought the same way as Ash did but he didn't know what would happen either so he decided not to frighten anyone at the moment so he smiled and said. "First we learn to crawl before we walk."

The message was pretty clear to him and he felt no worry at the moment. All through out this ordeal there was just one question that had Dante, Karin, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy and Dante's friend C.J. puzzled. Karin said as she looked at a tombstone knowing it was the same question in everyone's mind. "How did Eris get out of the bloody sphere?" Officer Jenny stood up and said. "That's what we need to find out. Who let her out?"

Both the black sphere and the white sphere were safely hidden in Dr. Marco's house. In his office room inside a vault which was hidden behind a painting on the wall. Two people in the world only knew the combination to the vault. Dr. Marco himself and Petrov were the only living people who knew the combination, a combination which was changed every 6 months for security reasons. The only way for Eriscordia to be released was to have the white sphere come in contact with a human's hand but Dr. Marco and Petrov were extremely careful when dealing with the spheres.

Suddenly an idea struck Nurse Joy. An idea that was so insane she would need physical evidence in order to prove it and even with evidence it was far too crazy but she tried to ask the question in a gentle way. "What if it was…an inside job?" Officer Jenny, Karin and Dante looked at her with widened eyes and Karin said. "Inside? Dad, would never allow that monster to have the chance to be set lose." Dante felt a little uncomfortable with that idea and said. "It could have been anyone from the outside. Petrov and dad are very responsible and mature people."

"How about we just go and confront old man Petrov with that question?" Ash said as he walked over to them and waited to hear what they thought of it. They thought it wasn't such a bad idea so they all agreed to do so. All of them hoped back in the car and then headed back into town and went down the dirt road path which led to Petrov's mansion. The dirt road ended as soon as they passed by Petrov's gate which was always at all times open, unless he was out of town or in Alexandria City. The road then turned into cement which was nicely and even laid down. At their sides they could see huge plants and wild flowers all around.

After 4 minutes they came upon an enormous mansion designed in a Victorian fashion. The mansion itself was painted dirty beige color and had a beautiful tainted window above the front door. The window consisted of pastel colors and the picture of a Lugia in the middle of it. The road went around a huge fountain that consisted of two Lugias which were interlaced with one another and were spitting out water through their mouths.

Nurse Joy stopped and everyone got off and waited by the door, Officer Jenny then went ahead and sounded the doorbell. Minutes later an old woman answered the door. "May I help you?" Officer Jenny leaned in and said. "Yes, is Mr. Zimmer home?"

"He is, wait here for a moment please."

The old woman walked back in and closed the door so they all remained quiet and waited to hear from the maid. Several minutes later the door opened and the old woman signaled them inside. One by one they all walked inside and Ash, Pikachu, Brock, May and Max were amazed at the size of the mansion. Inside was much bigger than they had thought that the Victorian design was not only for the outside but for the inside as well. There were paintings in the walls of gardens, people and of Pokémon as well, to the east they could see two huge doors that reached the roof semi open and inside they could see a huge fireplace and some furniture along with an Oak table in the middle of the room.

To the west there was a long and wide hallway leading down to another set of huge doors but this door was closed. And right before them was some stairs which led to the second floor and down those stairs came Mr. Petrov Zimmer himself. Officer Jenny walked up to him and greeted him. "Petrov, how are you?"

"Well, very well officer. Now, what brings you to my humble home?" As Ash looked around he was shocked that old man Petrov would refer to his home as "humble" so he said under his breath. "Humble my ass." Karin who was next to him and giggled but Brock who was in front of him hit him slightly with his elbow. Ash of course shoved him back but Karin held both of their arms and they calmed down as they listened to Officer Jenny get to the bottom of the mystery of Ericordia's escape.

"Well, this may seem a little…strange but we came to ask you if you had any idea how Eriscordia escaped from the black sphere." Petrov lowered his gaze and climbed down from the last step and said. "I was just on the phone with Dr. Nevalainen discussing this matter of her escape. Maybe it was an outside source or…she may have found a way to escape from the sphere without the help of a human." Ash had heard enough and decided to point out a true fact that Petrov was ignoring and said as he walked towards the old man. "Oh, please! Neither Eriscordia nor Thanades can escape without human contact. That is bull and you know it!"

"Ash!" May held him back by his arm and Petrov was surprised to see him there and not locked up so he looked at Officer Jenny and then back at him and asked. "What is he doing out of the police station?"

"With all due respect Mr. Zimmer, I am a cop obligated to uphold the law. As far as I can tell he has done nothing wrong---"

"There's a tape and some sidewalks and not to mention a car that had been pierced by a tree that says otherwise. The boy is dangerous!" Petrov interrupted Officer Jenny and as soon as he stopped talking all were silent but Ash had a look in his face that indicated that he was close to reaching out and strangling the old man with his bare hands. Petrov and Ash stared at each other with furious looks in their faces. Ash could tell there was something with this old man, something he was hiding. As he was about to say something he got a glimpse at a very small Spinarak at the top of the stairs. The corner of his mouth lifted revealing a grin and he said.

"Dangerous? Dangerous wouldn't even begin to cover what I am." He walked up to old man Petrov and stared coldly at him and then he said as he still stared at him. "Or as a dear friend of mine said: "We have the same vile, nasty, dark and evil hearts buried in our chests…" Isn't that correct?" After he said that he looked at the top of the stairs and looked directly at the Spinarak and it looked back at him. Everyone else looked at the Spinarak and soon pressure was beginning to build between everyone in the room.

"Oh, I could never get that Spinarak to fully obey me. C'mon girl, let's get you upstairs." Petrov walked back up and took the Spinarak in his hands and walked up to the second floor. As soon as he was out of sight Officer Jenny walked up to Ash and said in a low tone. "What do you think you're doing? We're trying to get old man Petrov to help us." Ash quickly snapped back and said sharply. "Something about that guy stinks. I can sense it—I can tell. I—I can just tell, trust me, Officer Jenny."

Officer Jenny sighed deeply and looked at him in question. She had a profound and deep respect for Petrov Zimmer but she also had a bad feeling so did Nurse Joy. Both kept quiet about it but they knew how to play their cards but with Ash's harshness it would be much more difficult. Officer Jenny then was struck with something, ever since Petrov laid eyes on Ash he had been acting in a manner none of them had ever seen.

Officer Jenny backed down and decided to let Ash stir things up for old man Petrov. As soon as he came back downstairs Ash noticed the Spinarak was not there with him which added a little more to his suspicion about that Spinarak. Petrov went back down and looked at Ash seriously, something in his stare let Ash know he was up to something. After a few awkward minutes Petrov smiled and chuckled a bit which of course confused everyone else, Ash quickly turned around and saw Ericordia standing behind them.

Eriscordia laughed and right in front of her was May whom Eriscordia punched and knocked out. Before anyone could do anything she transformed into an Aerodactyl and grabbed May with her colossal claws and flew up high. On the roof was a giant crystal but that did not stop her, she burst right through and flew away. Max ran outside and saw the Pokémon carry his sister away towards the south side of the mansion.

Meanwhile back inside the mansion Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Karin, Dante, C.J. and Ash were pretty clear on old man Petrov's actions and a lot of questions were answered at that moment. Officer Jenny looked at Petrov in a way she had never before, her stare no longer had any respect or compassion for him and she asked. "Why? You are a much respected man in this town. The entire town trusted you!"

"Things change, my dear. I figured with Eriscordia's help I could accomplish great things." As soon as he said that Ash broke out in laughter and Petrov looked at him and said. "What is so funny?"

"Ah, nothin'…just the fact that you're being a total ass! You think just because you let her out she'll help you? God, you're pathetic!"

Max ran back inside and said he saw May being carried off to the south. Nurse Joy immediately knew that the Aerodactyl was headed towards Alexandria City. Ash, Dante, C.J. and Karin stepped forward in a threatening attempt to confront old man Petrov but as they did some shadows walked down from the top of the stairs. From the east side of the house more shadows showed up and from the west side even more shadows appeared. The shadows were the same as the ones that attacked the hospital, Petrov laughed and as the shadow surrounded Ash and the others Petrov made his escape out the front door.

The shadows were closing in at a slow pace and before they could do anything Ash and Pikachu looked at each other and smiled. Pikachu stood still and sparks emerged from its cheeks and Ash lifted his left arm and aimed his hand at the shadows. Ash used Water Gun to soak up the shadows, he circled around and wet each of them and as soon as he put his hand down Pikachu jumped up high and released its most powerful Thunderbolt attack on the shadows. All shadows went down easily and as soon as they were down everyone ran to the front door and as soon as they got the door open they saw old man Petrov taking off in a black Cavalier.

Everyone jumped back in the Tercel but Ash walked towards the front gate. Petrov raced to the front gate but just when he was inches away from a clean getaway the gate shut closed in front of him. Petrov stopped the car and got off to open the gate. He pulled on it with all his might but it wouldn't even budge. He kept trying but then a sudden feeling over came him; he slowly turned around and saw Ash standing at the end of the path. Ash began to slowly walk towards Petrov and as he did all plant life from both sides of the path instantly withered and died.

Ash had a very serious and angry look on his face and his eyes were glowing as bright as the yellow sun above them. Petrov was out of tricks and Eriscordia was not there to stop Ash. Petrov remained looking at him, he was serious but deep inside he was panicking. Petrov jumped back in his car and backed up a little and then hit the gas and broke through the gate and took off. Ash stopped in the middle of the path but then minutes later Nurse Joy showed up behind him and she said as she lowered the window.

"Forget it, we know where May is. We have to hurry though."


	9. Chapter 9

Exactly one hour had passed. The sun was setting into the mountains which faced the north side of Alexandria City. The cold air and rain added a more strange feeling to the atmosphere. It had been raining for days now and it almost felt as if the city was drowning. Skyscrapers invaded most of the downtown area, huge buildings which belonged to major corporations could be seen as far as the eye could see. This was definitely not Northbridge Town, not as clean or as calm anyway. There were a lot of people walking the sidewalks and there were dozens of cars on the streets, several garbage cans were placed by some light poles but people mostly used the sidewalks to throw their trash away in instead.

In a cleaner environment of the city was a huge building made of strange cement which helped give it an old look and feeling, it was the Alexandria City museum. There was a huge sign with bold red letter that read, "Sorry, we are closed for repairs." Old man Petrov stopped his car at the front of the museum and got out. He walked up to the front door and looked back at the street as if looking to see if he wasn't being followed by anyone. He opened the door slightly and walked inside. Once inside he looked about and saw nothing out of place, there were wax figures resembling several legendary Pokémon in the middle of the room. On the wall were paintings of extinct Pokémon and on the roof were several skeletons of flying Pokémon.

The lights were off so he had a bit of a hard time looking about in the darkening room. His eyesight was not what it used to be so he walked slowly and carefully about. As he passed by a wax Lapras he heard a strange sound and when he turned around he came face to face with Eriscordia. This time she was wearing a long black dress that dragged a little at the end, it had no sleeves, just two thin straps. She had on some high heeled sandals which had leather laces that were wrapped around her legs. She crossed her arms and leaned on the Lapras and looked at Petrov seriously.

"I thought he had been locked up."

"He was but Officer Jenny let him back out. How the hell was I supposed to know that?"

"You should pay more attention to your work!"

"Oh, excuse me. I didn't realize flaring about town in the shadows of the night, parading around and shape shifting into your rival was considered a job."

Eriscordia walked up to Petrov and pointed her index finger right at his face and said. "I was making it seem as if he was the one who destroyed the hospital so they could lock him up, you idiot!" Petrov backed down and looked at her, he had no sense of respect for her but he did know not to get on her bad side for he knew what she was capable of. "Why on Earth did you take the girl?"

Eriscordia chuckled and said as she passed her hand on the Lapras wax figure and said. "For insurance and…a way to get rid of our dear friend." Petrov looked at her in question and doubt so he said. "I don't think I understand completely."

"I gave Ash two choices, he would either join me or he would die. He chose death so we'll give it to him."

Back in Northbridge Town Officer Jenny explained all that had happened to Tanya and Marco. Both of them were in shock to hear what a man like Petrov had done, both were angry and disappointed with reason of course seeing as how Petrov's actions were nothing short of treason. As everyone sat down in the living room the phone rang and everyone turned their heads towards it as Marco picked it up but before putting it to his ear he pushed the speaker phone mode button so everyone could listen in since he knew it was Petrov on the other line.

"Petrov."

"Marco, how are you?"

"Enough chit chat Petrov, where is the girl?"

"Ah, yes, lovely girl. Bit angry though. But then again who wouldn't be if they were tied up and locked in the janitor's closet."

Max had also become both angry and concerned, he got up off the sofa and ran to the phone and yelled into as Nurse Joy held him back. "You hurt my sister and you'll be sorry!" Nurse Joy managed to sit him back down and calm him but old man Petrov just laughed and said. "Worry not, boy, she will not be harmed I promise you that…unless…" Petrov remained silent for a few seconds but in those few seconds tension had built up inside each and every person in that room. Then Petrov carried on. "I propose a trade. The girl for the boy."

As soon as he said that Ash snarled and everyone looked at him. They had been put in a very dangerous position. In the back of his mind an idea lit up and Ash grinned and came forward to the phone and said. "Just name the time and place and we have a deal."

"Excellent. Meet me tomorrow in Alexandria City, the corner of fifth and seventh at noon. I'll call on the doctor's cell phone for further details."

Petrov hung up the phone and all looked at Ash in question. They all thought it was risky and just plain crazy but all Ash could do was grin as he fully developed the plan in his mind. Two hours before noon everyone was ready to go, Tanya and Marco being a nurse and a doctor could not just put their jobs aside but they trusted they could handle matters without them. Max was eager to make the switch but Marco stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder and said. "I think it'd be best if you stay behind."

"What? Why me?"

Brock walked up to them and said. "He's right, Max. This is pretty dangerous and you could get hurt." Max removed Marco's hand and said as he looked at both seriously. "May is my sister! So I'm going whether it's dangerous or not!" Ash had heard the commission so he walked over to him and said. "Look, I know you're worried and scared but I promise we'll get May back safe and sound." Max chocked up and a tear fell down his cheek as he looked at the three of them and said. "Promise?"

Ash smiled and said as Pikachu climbed up on his shoulder. "Promise." Pikachu lifted its small paw and also agreed by saying. "Pi, pikachu!" Max stood down and calmed down a little bit. He remembered how Ash and Brock always seemed to be able to get both May and he out of trouble so he put his complete trust in them both and agreed.

Shortly after arriving in Alexandria City they let Dante, Karin and C.J. guide them through the city since they knew it like the back of their hands. They were now 45 minutes from noon so they made a few last minutes arranges. The corner of fifth and seventh had several building around it and one of them was the museum run by Petrov. Next to the museum was also a large plaza with a beautiful fountain shooting water from well done statues.

Part of the plan involved Ash using a lot of psychic energy which, sadly, was a type difficult for him to tame. He had learned to control all types but psychic was difficult and up to that day he couldn't fully control it but he went on with the plan either way. After everything was set Marco's cell phone rang so Officer Jenny answered it.

"Petrov, is that you?"

"Yes. Listen very carefully, I will be watching you from above so anything you do I will see. Have the boy walk up to the fountain in the plaza and wait till the girl reaches the fountain. As soon as both are standing there the boy will move towards the museum and there he will be escorted by Eris and as soon as Eris shows up the girl can get away. Is that clear?"

"Crystal clear."

Both hung up and went with the plan. Up high on the roof top of the museum stood Petrov as he watched down below at the plaza. He saw Ash appear from out of the bank they were hiding in and walked up to the fountain, strangely he only wore his black shirt and not tucked in as he always had it and of course the blue jeans. Petrov saw as he lowered his hat and walked on. He lifted his gaze and saw another young man walk out of the bank. This one was dressed differently, he had on black baggy pants, a plain black shirt and a black overcoat and some black rock boots and a pair of black Arnette sunglasses. The young man walked towards the mall so Petrov gave no real thought to it and kept an eye on Ash.

Once he reached the fountain May was released and she slowly walked up to the fountain. In that walk towards the fountain which seemed like miles she wondered how they were going to get out of that trouble. Once she reached the fountain she tried to look at Ash but he covered his face with the hat, she wondered why but she didn't give it much thought. May looked around frantically to see if she saw Petrov or Eriscordia in the area and said in a low whisper.

"What's going on? What are we going to do?" Ash didn't say anything he just lifted his index finger and placed it over his mouth and shushed her always making sure the hat covered his face. May was all too confused to do anything much. Eriscordia walked out of the museum and stood in the doorway which signaled that May should keep walking towards the bank. She moved on and as soon as she walked into the bank she was pulled inside by Nurse Joy.

Eriscordia walked towards Ash and as soon as she was right behind him she wrapped her arms around him and leaned in to whisper something in his ear. "You're dead meat, Ketchum." He began to laugh and for some reason Eriscordia noticed he was a bit taller than before. She backed up a little and looked around, all he did was laugh and when she turned him around and removed his hat she came to the surprise that it was Dante in disguise.

"What the hell is going on here?" Dante grinned and began to sing something. "There hasn't been an evening like--" Eriscordia looked at him confused and suddenly she heard a very familiar voice from behind her continuing that rest of the song, "This is what they wanted, always to feel hunted…"

Eriscordia slowly turned around and saw the real Ash Ketchum standing right behind her aiming a net gun at her. The young man Petrov saw getting out of the bank and heading towards the mall was in fact Ash and the boy heading towards the fountain was Dante. Anger rose from inside of Eriscordia and before she could even blink Ash fired two nets which wrapped around her and she fell to the ground cursing at him. Ash could do nothing more than laugh wickedly and watched as the mighty Eriscordia struggled to free herself from the net. He kept laughing at her attempt to free herself and walked up to her and placed his left foot on her shoulder and said as he lowered the sunglasses.

"Well, well, well, this has got to be a little embarrassing for you, Eris."

"Untie me you son of a bitch!"

"Nah, I think I'll just leave you tied up for a while." He grinned and kneeled over next to her. She hissed at him and he just smiled once more and she said. "Let me go! Stop being a little shit and untie me so I can kill you!" Ash rose up and while still looking at her he said in a serious tone. "Why end it so soon? I'm just starting to have fun." His smile only managed to anger her further but Ash just fed off her anger. At the roof of the museum Petrov saw the fall of their plan but the old man had one last trick up his sleeve.

That net that wrapped Eriscordia was especially designed to capture Pokémon but not capture them like a regular trainer would. The net just subdued the Pokémon and prevented the creature from using any attack, since both Eriscordia and Ash had the same traits of a Pokémon they too were affected by this net. Petrov also had a similar gun like the one in Ash's hands so he aimed it at him and shot him with a net. After he saw Ash go down he released a Skarmory from a pokeball and as soon as the giant metallic bird materialized Petrov climbed on it and swooped down right next to Eriscordia.

Once in the ground he took a switchblade and cut Eriscordia lose. Once she was up she looked at Ash who was snarling at them and kicked him and said something in a strange language. Officer Jenny and the others saw what had happened so they ran out of the bank and raced to the fountain in the plaza. Before they could reach the plaza Eriscordia picked Ash up and took the switchblade from Petrov and put it to Ash's neck.

They all stopped dead in their tracks and Eriscordia laughed out loud and said. "Now that things are as they should have been we'll take our leave. I suggest you people do the same." Petrov and Eriscordia backed away and they dragged Ash with them. Afraid of what they might do to him Pikachu let out its most powerful Thunder attack and as the powerful thunder raced down on them Eriscordia lifted her arm and created a barrier and the thunder was stopped cold by it.

Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Dante, C.J., Karin, Pikachu, Brock and May watched as Ash was dragged away and into the museum. As soon as the doors closed they reacted and began to panic. Dante cursed out loud and Officer Jenny shook her head in disappointment and said. "What are we gonna do?" Karin was baffled by how they were reacting. When May was taken Ash came up with a plan and didn't panic or make it seem like it would be hopeless to rescue her. Karin walked in front of the crowd and said as she looked at each of them.

"I can't believe you guys! You're making it seem as though there is nothing we could do to get him back. We have to do something and we have to do it now!" C.J. didn't know Ash at all but he certainly knew from what he just saw that he was gutsy and determined so he stood next to Karin and said. "Yeah, when she was kidnapped he didn't mop around. Kid took action and came up with a seriously killer plan. You ask me I say that dude has guts." After hearing Karin and C.J. the others were encouraged and acknowledged what they just heard and came up with what they hoped would be a full proof plan.


	10. Chapter 10

As night fell on the city Eriscordia had tied Ash to a chair in Petrov's office. The chair was wide and made of leather but had a lot of filling to prevent back problems. The office itself wasn't a big show, it was kind of small. It was painted white and had several elegant paintings on the walls mostly consisting of the legendary Lugia. The desk which was made of expensive oak wood was polished and very neat. There was only a computer and a notebook on the surface, the desk also had several drawers which were locked.

Ash had been tied up for some hours which was starting to irritate him to no end, not to mention that his time was being wasted only infuriated him beyond words. During that time all he could do was try and come up with some sort of escape plan but all he thought of was soon ruined by Petrov's constant visits. Finally, late at night the door opened and inside walked Eriscordia. It seemed every time they ran into each other she was wearing something else. This time she was wearing a long white dress with a pretty serious cleavage but she only managed to disgust him for her behavior. The dress was in a tube style and was pretty tight, it had no distinctive designs. It was just as pure white as a cloud racing through the sky at dawn. He scoffed at the thought of the dress' color, he found it rather amusing and ironic for pure was the last thing she was.

She walked in silently; the only thing that could be heard was the sound of her heels hitting the ground as she walked inside. Ever since they had kidnapped Ash Eriscordia only walked into the office once, this being her second time. The first time she tried to persuade him into joining them in their scheme to take over and create mayhem. His answer was short and simple "No." Eriscordia was mad with that answer but in her cocky nature she somehow thought she could break him. She did not want to admit it but Ash presented a major problem for her so she would try all she could to turn him.

She swiftly walked up to the desk and looked at him for a few seconds as if exploring all possibilities in which she could turn him. Torture even crossed her mind but that would just feed his hate for her. Eriscordia sat at the edge of the desk and crossed her legs, as she did the left side of the dress revealed a cut that split and her legs were out in the open. She smiled wickedly but he simple snarled at her. Eriscordia heard him snarling so she laughed lightly and said as she smiled at him. "This seems like right out of a James Bond movie, don't ya think?"

Ash thought of a million things and insults to direct towards her but he knew the more complex and colorful the insult the more kicks she would get out of bothering him. So his reply was short, simple but still stingy. "Bite me." Eriscordia lifted an eyebrow at the comment and simply smiled. Her smile of course was a front for her true feelings, deep inside she would have loved nothing more than to throw him off the building's roof but she kept her cool.

"I'm going to give you one more chance…join me and I promise you won't regret it. What do you think of that?"

Ash stood quiet for a moment and actually looked like he was thinking it over in his mind. Eriscordia was having feelings of victory within her but she looked indifferent outside as not to give away the idea that she was winning. Ash leaned in as much as the ropes would let him and looked her dead in the eyes and said. "Why don't you jump up my---" She knew exactly how he was going to end that sentence so before he could even breathe the last word she balled up her fist and hit him as hard as she could.

Her hand had landed hard on the left side of his mouth which resulted in a broken lip. He kept still and as blood built up inside his mouth he spit it out and then looked at Eriscordia with burning eyes indicating nothing more but fury and hate. The same was emitting from Eriscordia. Both just stared at each other for several minutes but then Ash broke the silence and said. "That…is the last time you pull something like that." Eriscordia leaned in rapidly and put her hands on the seat's arm rests and said as she looked at him fiercely.

"Then don't make me do it! That is no way to talk to a lady." With those words Ash couldn't help but say in a serious and cold tone. "A lady? Where? All I see is you." Eriscordia was now angrier than ever and just wanted to scream her lungs out but she remained calm and cool and said as she passed her pinky on his bloody lip. "You're seconds from dead." Ash felt no real threat from that comment but he remained quiet and just looked at her with raw, seething anger in his eyes. All he did was growl at her while she walked out of the office and locked the door.

As soon as she locked the door she turned around and came face to face with old man Petrov. She walked down towards the main hall but then stopped and said. "He won't join us." Petrov chuckled and said as he walked up to her. "I told you he wouldn't join us. The boy obviously is incorruptible."

"Whatever! Just---Have you found the white sphere yet?"

"No. I have the black one which is yours but the white one is still missing. I'm not even sure if they know where it is."

"Well, we need to find it." Eriscordia said no more and simply walked on. Once she was near the front door she said out loud. "And as soon as you find it kill him! And be prepared for a rescue from his friends."

Around 1:23 am Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy and the rest snuck to the back alley of the museum. Alexandria City was very active with all sorts of people during the day but at night the population varied between teenagers and young adults who were more active during the night. Their plan was not one concocted by professionals but they hoped it was enough to safely get Ash out of enemy hands and safely back into theirs. Officer Jenny knew the museum like the back of her hand and her being a cop helped in the ordeal of trying to get into a building by force.

First thing they did was secure the area. Officer Jenny knew the Museum had a broken window that only Marcos, Petrov and she knew about. On the second floor of the corner there was a window that if pushed inside it would open easily. Dante released a Crobat from a pokeball and whispered an order at the bat Pokémon. "Kay, here's what I want you to do. Fly up to that window and push it inside, it should open easily. Once inside check the area and make sure no one is nearby, got it, Lestat?"

Lestat acknowledged its trainer's orders and did as it was told. Lestat flew high up to the window and pushed it open. It did as easily as Dante said it would be. Once inside Lestat checked every corner of the room, it was the janitor's room so the only things inside were mops and detergents. It saw some rope on the floor that had been cut with either scissors or claws. Since that was the room where May had been kept in the door was slightly open. Lestat flew out and flew to the roof where it hid amongst the shadows and looked down on the hallway. Everything was quiet and calm so the little bat Pokémon thought the area was safe. It quickly flew to the window and chattered lively down to its trainer letting them know it was safe to continue.

Officer Jenny took out a hook from a backpack she was carrying and Lestat flew down and grabbed the hook. It flew back up and tossed the hook on the floor. Officer Jenny pulled the rope until it wouldn't budge at all indicating that the hook had gotten caught on something. One by one they all climbed the rope and reached the room. Once they were inside they had to find Ash but avoid running into Petrov or Eriscordia. They figured so many people running around looking for the same person would save them a lot of time but at the same time there was the risk of loosing one or getting caught so it was decided that Officer Jenny, Dante and C.J. were the ones that would go and look for him.

Pikachu had tagged along with them and refused to stay behind so it crept along side of Dante and looked around as well. By the look of things the second floor was empty but they had to be careful no matter what. As they crept along the hallway they ran into some elevators and a stair case, obviously the elevators would make too much noise so they went down the stairs. Officer Jenny was the first in line so she carefully scanned the area for any signs of Petrov or Eriscordia. Truth be told Officer Jenny was worried and a bit frightened; she always was when dealing with situations that involved innocent people getting hurt or worse. She swallowed her feelings and concentrated in the task at hand, Dante and C.J. had a tough history of break ins and robbery from a former handful of friendships they shouldn't have made and with Officer Jenny with them it wouldn't turn out so bad.

They ran into the middle of the first floor and saw some paintings, figures and as they looked up they saw the huge skeletons on the roof. They snuck around carefully; as they searched they heard a door closing and heard voices. Officer Jenny hid behind a huge wax figure of an Ampharos, Dante hid behind a sculpture of a Lugia and C.J. hid behind a door. Officer Jenny and Dante saw Eriscordia walking out of a room talking on a cell phone so they listened in.

"Now is that going to be a problem? No, I didn't think so. Just get your team over to Alexandria City and we'll have no problems."

Meanwhile C.J. kept as quiet as possible, he leaned his ear on the door to see if he could pick up any sounds but as he waited he was startled by someone's voice whispering something. "Lucky for you I'm the only one here." C.J. quickly turned around and saw Ash tied up on the chair. He exhaled in relive and walked towards him and said. "Oh, man…you scared the crap outta me."

"Hmm, didn't realize I was scary."

C.J. calmed down and walked over to Ash and untied him. Meanwhile Officer Jenny and Dante seized the opportunity now that Eriscordia had left to look around. Dante reached for the doorknob of the room she had just come out of but before his hand could touch the doorknob they heard faint footsteps behind them. They quickly turned around fearing that they had been caught but ran into C.J. and Ash. After a brief reunion and the usual questionnaire of whether anyone was injured or needed anything they began to creep back to the stairs that led to the second floor.

Hopeful that no one had seen them they slowly but rather quickly ran up the stairs to head out of the city and try and find a way to stop Eriscordia and her malignant plans. As Dante, who was the last in line, put his foot on the last step they heard a serious of loud noises. They looked forward and saw one of the windows of the hallway and saw a metal plate rise up from the windows frame. They frantically looked at all windows and saw the same thing happening. Someone must have activated the defense system that would lock down every single window and door in order to keep anything in or out depending on the situation. Officer Jenny suddenly remembered the rest of the group and quickly ran towards where they had left them followed by Ash, Dante and C.J.

Once they were in front of the janitor's room they saw the door wide open and no signs of anyone there. Dante became worried about his sister and looked around, he noticed that the defective window hadn't been blocked by the metal plate so he ran to it and looked out of it. There was no one in the alley so they presumed they had been caught and they were right. All through out the museum they heard Eriscordia talking through the PA system and said. "Looking for something?" After she said that she began to laugh out loud so they all ran back to the first floor and saw Petrov with several of those shadow Pokémon surrounding Nurse Joy, Karin, Brock and May.

Eriscordia walked out of the control room which was at the back and said as she approached them. "Well, well, well, it seems that every time you guys try to pull something I always seem to win. Now, we have ourselves here a bit of a situation. Those of you on the stairs walk over to the rest of the group." No one made a single slight movement or said anything except for Ash whose answer was a threatening snarl. Eriscordia was not in a good mood so she snapped her fingers and a shadow Pokémon that looked like an Absol stepped forward and walked slowly towards May and Karin.

Ash quickly stepped forward and then the rest of them did the same. Petrov smiled and Eriscordia went to another door, she opened it and looked at Ash seriously and coldly. "Well, Ashy boy, since you so refused to join us…well, you know how it goes. I warned you what would happen if you got in my way. And you know what? You're in my way."

"Stop playing around and let's get this over with!" Petrov barked at Eriscordia's measly word play which was beginning to annoy him. Eriscordia looked back at Petrov seriously and rolled her eyes. She grabbed Ash by the neck and the others stepped forward in protest afraid she might do something to harm him. Eriscordia aimed her right hand at the group and a small sphere of burning red and yellow colors appeared inches from her palm. Everyone calmed down but the tension began to build up as Eriscordia threatened them. Ash of course was concerned for his friends so he did all he could to calm everyone down. "Look, guys, it's fine. Eris let ém go."

Eriscordia chuckled and said as she lowered her arm. "Oh, don't worry. They'll be fine as long as they're smart enough to stay away. Now, you my friend are another story." She snapped her fingers and the shadow Pokémon walked towards Ash. Eriscordia pointed her finger towards the door behind Ash; he got the idea and went in through the door. As he stood on the door step and looked down to see some stairs leading down to a room. Even though it was pitch black he was able to see in the dark and realized he was walking down to the basement. He walked down the stairs slowly, his mind at the moment was completely blank, no ideas for an escape, no witty comebacks or insults, just an empty mind remarkably at peace.

Once he reached the floor he saw a shadow in the shape of a human on the floor. He knew it was Eriscordia but he kept quiet and waited to see what she would say. "It's a shame, a real shame. Of all the people who have touched the white sphere you have been the cutest." Flattery, shyness and even a hint of embarrassment would be the emotions he would have felt after hearing a comment like that but at the moment he felt nothing. It was as if every human emotion had been drained out of him and emptiness replaced them all. All he did was slowly turn around and look at her with emptiness in his eyes.

Eriscordia sighed and pointed her finger at the wall of the basement. Ash looked to where she was pointing and saw a screen with huge red and bold numbers counting down from one minute. He looked back at her and she said in a low tone. "I will miss those pretty brown eyes." Ash scoffed and gave her the finger as he turned towards the wall. Eriscordia raised an eyebrow and said under her breath. "How colorful."

Eriscordia quickly closed the door and then locked it. She snapped her fingers and the shadow Pokémon disappeared into thin air and Petrov and she managed to get the group out of the museum. Once they were outside Petrov locked the front door and ran to the other side of the street where Eriscordia was tying up Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Dante, C.J., Karin, Brock and May's hands together with flex cuffs. Petrov rushed over as fast as he could and as soon as his foot touched the sidewalk the museum blew up.

The explosion was so great and powerful that the group fell down from the force emitting from it. Pikachu who had hid when Petrov and Eriscordia found the group stood across the street in awe and looking at the fire the explosion left in horror. Tears built up and rapidly fell down its cheeks as it yelled out. "Pi ka pi!"

"No!" That was the response from the group as they gathered themselves and saw the museum lit up on fire from the explosion. Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Karin and May were overwhelmed with tears from the slaughter they had just witnessed. An innocent victim, another guiltless life taken by the evil of the spheres and the worst part was that Eriscordia had no one to stop her. As they watched in both sadness and despair the fire wildly moved around in a deathly dance of death and destruction eating away at everything in its path. Eriscrodia stepped forward and looked at the group and saw their faces, she could smell the fear coming from them.

Eriscordia was not one to care for anyone or even feel anything for no living creature. She stared for any signs of Ash but after 3 minutes she gave up and turned to the group and said with a huge smile on her face. "Okey dokey then, unless you want to be turned into ashes…you'll do as I say." After hearing that all they wanted to do was beat Eriscordia with the first object they could get but unfortunately more lost lives would mean nothing to her so they agreed to follow them. Eriscordia walked toward Petrov and said.

"I'll take them back. Meanwhile you find the white sphere and get the black sphere back from your place. You have two hours!"

"Right away!" Petrov got in his car and drove off in a hurry. Meanwhile before Eriscordia moved away she turned to the fire lit museum and said as she walked away. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Eriscordia then walked towards the group who was still stung from the loss of a good friend and the only hope to stopping Eriscordia and her plans.


	11. Chapter 11

As the group walked away quietly and mournfully Pikachu stayed behind and looked into the fire with tears in its eyes. As sad as the little yellow mouse was it couldn't find any strength to move or do anything. As Pikachu looked deeply into the fire it recalled all the times it spent with its trainer and best friend, every encounter with Team Rocket, all the legendary Pokémon it got the privilege to meet and all those times they spent together and had fun.

With Ash gone Eriscordia was free to do whatever her twisted mind wanted to do. She knew if she would lay out a massive attack the police department and other authorities would take action, not to mention the military base at the foot of the mountains on the north side of Alexandria City. Her first action was the creation of a thousand shadow Pokémon ready and willing to do her biding. Her second action was releasing all her shadow minions into the city.

Eriscordia knew the police department would interfere so she personally headed over to the police department. The Officer Jenny in charge of the Alexandria City police department had just come back from a robbery in a jewelry store. Alexandria City was nothing like Northbridge Town, there was a robbery or a break and entry every two hours so Officer Jenny was a very busy woman. Officer Jenny sat at her desk and relaxed after a long three hours running after some kids who were responsible for the robbery at the jewelry store. Her relaxation did not last; another cop came to her and said.

"Excuse me, Officer Jenny? We got a call about a huge explosion over at Mr. Zimmer's museum."

"Oh! Five minutes! That's all I want just five miserable minutes."

"Well, it's part of the job."

Officer Jenny and the cop chuckled and as she rose from the chair the front door burst open and Eriscordia walked inside. She stood at the front door and smiled wickedly at all the people inside of the building. Officer Jenny walked up to her and said. "May I help you?" Eriscordia remained quiet and simply chuckled at the officer who only became annoyed. Officer Jenny looked at her and said once more. "May I help you, young lady?" Once again Eriscordia's reply was silence; Officer Jenny had been around criminals for far too long to not notice the look on Eriscordia's face. Something in Officer Jenny told her to be on the look out with this strange girl so she swiftly moved her hands on her hips to where she kept her gun.

Eriscordia saw the tension building up and decided to act before they would do something to ruin her plans which up to date were going perfectly well. Eriscordia laughed and said. "Think you have what it takes to stop me, copper?" Officer Jenny found the statement rather threatening so she drew her gun on Eriscordia and the other officers did the same. As they aimed their weapons at her Eriscordia couldn't help but laugh at their efforts. As much as she enjoyed toying around with her victims she had a tight schedule to pay close attention to.

Eriscordia swiftly lifted her right arm up and faced her right hand at the crowd of officers before her. Once again she smiled and a pink and purple sphere formed just inches from the middle of her palm, within seconds the sphere burst into a soft colored purple and pink dust that quickly and swiftly spread through out the police department. Every single person in that building fell to the floor and went into a deep sleep that could not be disturbed by anything. Eriscordia smiled wickedly and went out of the building and on to her next task.

The military base would not be a problem if they were to be kept outside of the city limits so she made sure nothing could get in but she had to make sure there was no one in the city. Eriscordia stood in the middle of the street causing several cars to come to a screeching halt. She ignored the drivers as they got out of their cars and began to complain and tell her to move, Eriscordia simply looked up at the sky and concentrated. As several people stopped and looked at her thousands of shadow Pokémon emerged from out of the thin air. For a minute everything was silent and people were only curious as to what was happening but as soon as the shadows stopped appearing they spread out and began to attack the people from Alexandria City.

The shadows ran about chasing, biting, slashing and attacking anyone and anything in their way. As Eriscordia made sure her shadow minions were up and doing their job she quietly walked away and headed towards the National Bank, Alexandria City's largest and tallest building. The bank had over 1,200 rooms and it consisted of 96 floors. Everything was going according to plan and wonderfully at that, the shadows managed to clear the city by the time Eriscordia reached the bottom of the bank and as she watched the last few people run away she stood very still at the front doors of the bank and once again went into a deep concentration. This time the activity was right at the borders of the city. A wall of 75 feet in height rose from the ground creating a white see through barrier which meant to keep both people and Pokémon out of Alexandria City.

After the wall was created she smiled and looked up at the colossal building before her. The door itself stood 25 feet high and was made of glass as was the rest of the building. As a proud warlord after a flawless victory she walked through those doors with pride overwhelming her completely unaware that her plans could perhaps tilt for the worst in the blink of an eye.

Trapped in cages were Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Dante, Karin, C.J., Brock and May. They remained silent and full of hopelessness as they watched the hands of an old and dusty clock move against them. Some of them sat on the cold, hard steel floor and others leaned on the steel bars, with no way to contact anyone they had given up any type of hope. But just as things were looking so gloomy and filled with an all too familiar feeling of doom May's backpack began to move about on its own. C.J. saw this and warned everyone.

As they stood there looking at the backpack it continued to move about and suddenly a burst of energy erupted from it and an adorable but mischievous Skitty materialized before them. "Na, na, naaa!" Those were the sounds that Skitty made as it jumped around gleefully. May above all was overjoyed to see her Skitty; she saw this as the perfect opportunity to get them out. May stretched her arms out through the space between the bars and said as Skitty jumped into her arms. "Skitty! Am I glad to see you!"

"Na." Said the tiny Pokémon as it returned the hug to its trainer and May said as she lifted her index finger pointing out at an open air vent. "Okay, Skitty I need you to go in there and escape from the building and get some help as fast as you can." Skitty looked towards the air vent and before anyone could say another word the kitten Pokémon ran towards the vent. Normally Skitty was a very hyper and playful Pokémon but it sensed great fear and concern coming from May and the other people with her so it decided to act as quickly as possible but that didn't stop it from hoping that May would play with it when all else was once again all right.

Skitty stood on the entrance of the air vent and looked back at its trainer. It saw the look on May's face and it was rushed from inside to hurry and find some help. Before leaving it nodded and ran into the cool air vent to try and find a way out of the building and find some help. May watched as her kitten Pokémon ran into the air vent, May trusted her Skitty and knew help was well on the way but she did however say under her breath. "Good luck, Skitty."

Meanwhile back at the top floor where all executives and VIPs of the bank met for meetings Eriscordia made herself at home. The floor was a whole room which looked like a ballroom you would normally find in mansions and castles. The walls were painted a very soft tone of brown, there were glass windows on the north and south facing walls, and a large earthy tone carpet covered every inch of the room's floor. At the very end of the room which faced the north side there was a long wooden table, made out of wood and obviously very expensive. There were 27 chairs neatly tucked underneath the table, the chairs were made of the same material as the table and also looked rather expensive. Of all chairs there was one that was bigger and was located at the very end of the table, the chair's back faced the windows that overlooked the entire north side of Alexandria City.

Almost three hours had passed since Eriscordia had sent Petrov on an errand and she was starting to get very uncomfortable with his tardiness. As she sat on the huge chair she looked out the window and down on the abandoned city, then and there she decided enough was enough. She snapped her fingers and a shadow in the shape of a Fearow appeared before her. "Go and find the old man and make sure he gets here safe! We can't afford any mistakes!" Just as the shadow Fearow was about to take off two Absol shadows walked in from the elevators with news.

Both shadows sat next to each other and right where the eyes should be there was a strange glow and a transparent white square appeared out of the nowhere and in the square she could see the front gate of Alexandria City known as Francine's Gate. The beauty of Alexandria City was that the only way in or out was by passing through Francine's Gate which made it easy to control. At the gate Eriscordia had placed several shadows and one of them was shaped like a Mewtwo. In the square she could see Petrov waiting to be let inside as several shadow Pokémon were waiting for Eriscordia's orders. Eriscordia saw Petrov standing there and stepped closer to the square and said. "What took you so long?"

Down at the gate Petrov heard Eriscordia through the shadow Mewtwo. He backed up a little and said. "I had to find the bloody black sphere but…I'm afraid I have bad news as well." Eriscordia breathed in and said impatiently. "What now?"

"I couldn't find the white sphere…I believe the kid had it with him and well…he's nothing more than ashes by now." Petrov laughed as he said that last comment but Eriscordia was only filling up with anger and frustration. The spheres were of magick but they weren't indestructible. Eriscordia knew that by putting both spheres together she would be invincible and unstoppable. Now she had to face the harsh reality that not all her plans could come together as she had hoped they would.

Eriscordia rubbed her forehead with the tip of her fingers and exhaled deeply. Petrov was beginning to think he would be left locked outside and said as he faced the shadow Mewtwo. "Well, aren't you going to let me in?" Eriscordia had taken a few steps away from the square but as soon as Petrov's voice had disturbed her train of thought she walked quickly towards the square and yelled out. "I should leave you out there to rot! I need both spheres, you moron!"

"It's not my fault you weren't so careful! Oh, sure, let's blow the kid up to his next life and destroy the sphere! I…didn't…know! Besides it was you how blew him up not me."

"Whatever! Just go and see if you can find anything."

Petrov had grown irritated. He was being blamed for something that he had opposed to in the first place. Petrov wanted power not blood in his hands, especially a child's blood. The only thing that gave comfort, if you could call it that, was that Ash wasn't exactly human anymore. Still, Petrov refused to go to the scene of a slaughter and said firmly. "No, I won't do it." Eriscordia turned and faced the square and said calmly but her frustration was also noticeable in her voice. "What did you say?"

"I said: "No." There's no way in hell that I would go to the museum. For what? The burned corpse of a child and a ruined building? I don't think so."

"How dare you defy me, old man! As I recall I helped you out of a major problem and if I see no cooperation from your part you will be sorry."

Petrov knew she meant it and that problem she mentioned was too great for him to fall under once again so he decided to do things her way for the time being. "Fine, let me in."

"No! Change of plans. You go on over to the bank and head to the top floor, that's where I am. Stay there and wait for me while I check the site."

Eriscordia snapped her fingers and the shadow Pokémon before her vanished. The Mewtwo down at Francine's Gate lifted its hands and made a swift movement of the wrist and the gate opened and Petrov walked inside quietly. Meanwhile Eriscordia teleported to the street at the foot of the bank, as she walked down the street towards the burned down museum a strange feeling came over her. She stopped in the middle of the road and looked around. Several trees that had been planted were restless because of the wind blowing, several papers and pieces and pages of newspapers rolled down the streets and sidewalks as the wind hit them. It was a normal scene but something about it felt wrong. Eriscordia looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds racing in the sky announcing the arrival of a severe thunder storm.

Suddenly the air died down, the trees were frozen and the papers stopped cold and lay on the street lifeless. Nothing moved and an eerie silence fell upon the city, it was as if the life had been sucked out of the city and all was dead. Eriscordia felt a sudden feeling of rush and fear overwhelm her completely. She took two steps forward and looked about for any sign of Petrov but for some unknown reason she took one step back and at that very second a powerful and massive lightning struck right where she had put her foot down seconds before retrieving it.

The impact was very strong but the fright was what knocked her down and sat her down on the street. She looked up at the sky and saw the sky had been engulfed in darkness and the sun's rays could not get through. The whole sky had dark rain clouds and not a single drop of light got through, she hated how the sky looked. She preferred clear blue skies and sunny rays washing down on the Earth. Suddenly the wind picked up again but this time the wind blew past the city at a rapid speed and it was very, very cold.

Eriscordia looked forward and saw a small figure walking towards her at a slow pace. She looked closely and saw it was Pikachu; apparently it had stayed behind and wanted revenge for the murder of its trainer. Pikachu stopped when it was about ten feet away and stood up on its hind legs and looked at Eriscordia with anger in its eyes. She could tell the little mouse meant business but a mere Pikachu like that would only take one shot of any attack to finish it off. Eriscordia got up and pointed her right index finger right at Pikachu and a small white and pale yellow orb formed inches from the tip of her finger.

Before she could launch a massive Hyper Beam attack an Aeroblast hit her right on her back and knocked her back down on the street face first. Eriscordia got back up quickly and looked around but could not find anyone or any Pokémon in the area. She looked to where Pikachu had been but the little mouse was of the electric type and Aeroblast was an attack it could not learn not to mention that it had disappeared. Eriscordia walked around looking everywhere in case she saw the small Pikachu or whatever hit her with the Aeroblast attack. As she cautiously walked down the street she noticed an odd and chilling fog rolling on over the street, the fog seemed to have been coming from all directions.

In only a matter of minutes the thick fog covered the streets making it impossible to look at ones feet. Eriscordia was both cautious and jumpy not knowing who was making these things happen. In the back of her mind she thought it was Ash but at the same time she knew it couldn't be him since he was dead. As she looked around frantically Pikachu popped up from an alley and launched a massive Thunderbolt attack right at her. The attack hit her directly but it was so minimal to her that it did no damage and she just stood there as if nothing had happened. That aroused more suspicions, the thunder that blasted in front of her some minutes before felt far too powerful to have come from that Pikachu.


	12. Chapter 12

Eriscordia's eyes started to glow blood red and hundreds of shadows suddenly gathered around her. Pikachu hadn't counted on her summoning her minions so quickly so it played it safe and hid away. Eriscordia had a bad feeling but within her, she did not want to show any signs of doubt that would make her seem weak and unable. As soon as there was plenty of shadow Pokémon her eyes flashed an eerie blood red and all shadows took off in different directions to handle the meddling Pikachu. As the shadows did their job Eriscordia walked to the museum to see for herself if Ash was gone or not for a part of her had her doubts.

As she walked down the street she came face to face with a small Pikachu. As she looked at it her eyes widened for that Pikachu in particular wasn't a normal Pikachu. Instead of an easy yellow its entire body was black; the stripes on its back were now a soft, pale gray and its eyes were an intense yellow that looked like its stare could pierce anything. It looked rather angry and ready to attack. The strange Pikachu tensed its muscles and as it did so black sparks of lightning wildly danced and paraded from its gray cheeks. While that was happening the clouds high above the Pikachu gathered and swirled above its head letting out lightning of its own.

The lightning coming from the clouds suddenly dove down right in front of Eriscordia. Eriscordia was getting angry; she pointed her index finger at the strange Pikachu and fired a powerful Psybeam attack. The attack went right through the Pikachu and right after the beam went through the Pikachu disappeared. Eriscordia was very surprised at this and thought. _"A hallucination? How can this be?"_ Her mind was crowded with a million thoughts. Thoughts of military involvement was the first but they use Pokémon, people sneaking back into the city was also one but there was no Pokémon that could create such a hallucination and once more the possibility that Ash was still alive also took place within her thoughts.

Eriscrdia looked around but the Pikachu had vanished into thin air. As she looked around a small shadow Natu flew down and stood before her as a transparent square appeared before her. On the square she saw two human males standing at Francine's gate. They were both wearing uniforms; the uniforms consisted of a gray long sleeved shirt with a large, red and bold R in the middle, some long gray pants and some boots. The men stood there waiting for orders from either Eriscordia or Petrov. Suddenly her fears washed away and she said calmly at the men. "It's about time you got here! Hurry inside, we have an intruder."

The gate opened and dozens of team members walked inside the city. There were members from all known teams, Team Magma, Team, Rocket and Team Aqua. Petrov knew they would need all the help they could get so he made several calls and members that weren't so loyal and or were rogues decided to get in on the action as Petrov promised power and money in return for their services. All teams walked up the main street and stopped as soon as they saw Eriscrodia teleport right in front of them and as she walked towards them she said.

"Glad to see you made it. Now as you were told we need to work to get what we want. You want power, money, and a team that will not let you down? Then get out there and earn it! There's an intruder lose in the city. Bring his or her head on a plate to me and you will be greatly rewarded."

The crowd cheered and ran off in different directions. All teams equipped their members with Pokémon but an earlier meeting some nights ago with Eriscordia got each and every single one of them their very own shadow Pokémon. An army of well over four dozen team members armed with shadow Pokémon, Eriscordia and her shadow minions, which were needless to say stronger than the ones handed to the team members, were the odds this intruder had to face.

As they spread through out the city all members unleashed their shadow Pokémon and as soon s they were out they were ordered to search for anything out of place. Meanwhile Pikachu had been hiding in an alley for a signal it was waiting for but a familiar sound distracted it. Pikachu turned around and saw Skitty being pushed towards a wall by a shadow Scyther and a shadow Espeon. Pikachu raced over as the Scyther raised its massive scythe to slash Skitty. Right before Skitty could fall victim to the deadly scythe Pikachu tensed its muscles and released an intense and powerful Thunder attack. The thunder hit the shadow Scyther dead on and it fell on its knees but the Espeon used Psybeam on Pikachu. Pikachu was a strong Pokémon but these shadow Pokémon were much stronger. Skitty saw Pikachu might need help so it unleashed its strongest Blizzard attack which resulted in two frozen sculptures. Skitty ran to Pikachu and both little Pokémon sat to chat. "Na, na, na, na, na. Na!"

"Pika! Pi, pika, pikachu!"

Skitty had just explained how May and the others were being kept locked inside cages on the last floor of the tall building. Pikachu decided to help so it told Skitty to lead the way so they could help May and the others. As the two little Pokémon went on all team members were searching the city for the intruder Eriscordia so coveted. Through out the city there were 48 team members and each of them were equipped with two shadow Pokémon. So the intruder had to face a total of 96 shadow Pokémom.

A great number of people were walking down the main street and their shadow Pokémon had been released. The shadows suddenly got a whiff of a very hostile scent which set them on a wild mood. As the shadows looked around everyone heard a thunderous roar. Both Pokémon and humans looked about to place the sound with something but they saw nothing, suddenly the sky grew darker, and a dark shade covered the sun. As everyone was busy watching the sun a strange and thick fog began to roll from out of the nowhere. A shadow Entie growled letting the members know there was something in the fog.

A shadowy figure slowly walked to the edge of the fog but maintained hidden within the fog. As it walked right to the edge they noticed the shadow take shape like a human. The shadow let out a shrieking snarl letting them know it was not human at all. All members were struck with the realization that they were face to face with the intruder but before they could act they were distracted by a black transparent aura that swiftly swam in the fog. The aura quickly raised high into the sky and took the shape of a great black and transparent raven. It stretched in size and expanded its massive wings and as it opened its beak a shadowy beam erupted from within and struck all humans and Pokémon. The people were brought down heavily and the shadows turned into a light dust which was swept away by the wind.

As quick as it appeared the fog vanished and the sun returned to normal but was still covered by thick rain clouds. A carpet of unconscious people littered the main street but there was no sign of the intruder anywhere. Back at the bank Eriscordia was hit with a feeling of hostility, not only was Petrov missing but something in the back of her mind told her to look out the window. She slowly walked towards the window facing the north side which was where the main street laid. Eriscordia looked down and saw a huge group of people laying on the street unconscious and some black dust as well. She knew the dust was from her shadow minions and only a legendary Pokémon had enough power to take on her shadow minions but to have taken all those out so quickly and silently would have been done by something stronger than any legendary. She had to face the reality that her doubts, fears and suspicions were all indeed true.

After what seemed forever Pikachu and Skitty finally reached the top floor and saw some light at the end of the air vent. Skitty pushed open the vent and out popped Skitty and Pikachu. "Pika!" "Na!" Those were the greetings Pikachu and Skitty yelled out as they saw their human friends in the cages. As soon as they laid eyes on the two little Pokémon their faces lit up with hope and joy.

"Pikachu you're all right! I can't believe it!" May said as she opened her arms to welcome in Skitty who ran to her and hugged her. Officer Jenny was indeed delighted but their celebration had to be cut short since they couldn't waste time on pity celebrations that might be in vain. "Okay, does anyone have any fire and water type Pokémon?" At the mention of those two types in particular they all knew what she was meaning to do. May had a Torchic, Brock had a Mudkip, Dante had a Houndour and a Houndoom and C.J. had a Vaporeon and a Seadra. Three fire types and three water types and with Dante's Flaffy and Meowth using their strongest Body Slam they would be free in no time.

Pikachu had been shown where their backpacks had been put so they ran over and while Pikachu searched for May's Torchic and Brock's Mudkip Skitty released Symphony so she could look for C.J.'s Vaporeon and Seadra and Dante's Houndour and Houndoom. Symphony ripped through the backpacks and pushed the button on the pokeballs and Houndour, Houndour, Vaporeon and Seadra. Dante and May were up first so they gave their Pokémon the orders. "All right listen up. Inferno, Hellfire, I want both of you to hit these bars with the strongest and hottest Flamethrower you guys have, I mean boiling hot."

"Okay, Torchic as soon as they hit the bars I want you to hit the bars as well with you toughest Ember attack. Got it?"

"Mudkip as soon as they stop their Flamethrowers and Embers I want you to use Water Gun on the same spot they hit the bars."

"Arcana, Blutengel, when the Mudkip hits the bars with Water Gun I want you to do the same."

Now that their orders were clear Inferno the Houndoom, Hellfire the Houndour and May's Torchic stepped forward and released two massive Flamethrowers and a powerful Ember on the bars. After a few minutes they stopped and C.J.'s Pokémon stepped forward and played their part as well as Brock's Mudkip. Arcana the Vaporeon, Blutengel the Seadra and Mudkip hit the boiling bars with a showering Water Gun attack. As soon as the water hit the bars smoke bounced right off the bars and a wave of heat infested the room. After the water stopped another wave of fire hit the bars and after three minutes the fire stopped and another shower fell on the bars. Right before the water would stop Dante asked Symphony to release two more of his Pokémon.

Symphony released two more Pokémon and when they materialized there stood a Flaffy and a Meowth and Dante gave his orders. "Vitky, Lillith, I want you to hit the bars as soon as the water stops with your strongest Double Edge attacks, all right?" Both Pokémon acknowledged their trainer's orders so Vitky the Flaffy and Lillith the Meowth paid close attention to the bars. As soon as the water stopped Vitky landed the first blow but it did not manage to break the bars. Lillith gave it a try but the bars would not budge either so both Pokémon looked at each other and decided to hit the bars at the same time. Vitky and Lillith ran towards the bars and hit them at the same time with their strongest Double Edge attack and that managed to break the weakened bars and set their trainers free.

Officer Jenny thought using the attack combo would take up too much time so she looked around for the keys to the other cage. As she moved around several boxes she heard a jingle like sound indicating that she found what she was looking for. She dove her hand inside a box and dug out a set of keys which were kept together by a rusty old ring that looked like it had seen better days. In the ring there were five keys, she tried all of them but it was the last one that was the key to open the cage. Once freed they all made their way out of the room to figure out how to get out of the building in one piece.

Meanwhile as the sun set itself to sleep behind the mountains, the sky grew even darker and wicked. Eriscordia shrugged at the thought of the night's darkness, after all the light was her domain and the darkness was Ash's domain. For a while now she had been on the look out for someone in particular. She had been searching in alleys, hidden corners and on the highest buildings. One place she did not search was underground, under the streets of Alexandria City. The sewers were perfect for going anywhere and moving about without being noticed and her failing to check that out would turn out to be a fatal mistake.

As Eriscordia walked the streets in search for the intruder she picked up a very familiar scent but this time the sensation of extreme anger came along with it. As she took several steps she became a bit dizzy, she looked up at the street lights and the light became fuzzy and blurred. She kept walking forward and noticed no other humans in the area. Eriscordia looked around frantically and saw that there were no members anywhere, no Team Rockets, Team Aqua or Team Magma. From the minute it took her to get out of the bank all members she had gathered had disappeared into thin air. She kept walking down the street and as she wondered and questioned a thick eerie fog rolled in and covered the entire city in a matter of seconds.

She stopped and looked about, her heart was racing and her breath had become heavy and somewhat slow. As her eyes scanned the area she heard a low chuckle. The sound seemed to be coming from everywhere, confusing her further than what she already was. Suddenly Eriscordia came to the realization that an attack had been placed on her. Hysteria was a powerful attack which made the victim see and hear things that were not really there. She closed her eyes and concentrated and once she was sure she had overpowered the effect of the Hysteria attack. Once her eyes opened the team members all stood around her looking at her in a funny way as if questioning her sanity for the display she had shown once she walked out the front door.

Eriscordia's rage grew and her patience shortened. She knew Hysteria was not an attack any Pokémon knew so she was indeed convinced of Ash's survival so she walked up to the middle of the crowd and yelled out to him, "Where are you! Show yourself, you coward!" At that instant an eerie and disturbing howl wrapped the night's atmosphere and sent a chill through its audience's spine. The howl had been heard from behind the huge group of people and shadow Pokémon down on the street so each and every single person and shadow turned to face a huge abandoned building and right in front of the building was a shadowy figure staring back. That figure was none other than Ash Ketchum himself. As he stared back thunder struck high above in the heavens and rain began to pour down on them.


	13. Chapter 13

Ash remained quiet and held a very threatening and serious look on his face. He was still wearing the clothes Dante lent him for the undercover trick back at the museum. As the rain poured down on him his hair became so wet some flicks of his hair fell on his face partially hiding his eyes which were staring coldly right into Eriscordia's eyes. Eriscordia took a few steps forward and mocked his silent but threatening approach by smiling as she walked toward him. She stopped about 10 feet away from him and placed her hands on her hips as she stood straight up. She smiled but Ash was still very silent and never removed his eyes from hers, Eriscordia was then struck with curiosity as to how he managed to survive the blast and what became of old man Petrov. Before she could open her mouth to ask or say anything Ash said in a low and cold voice.

"How did I survive the blast? Simple. There was a manhole in the basement leading down to the sewers. So before the time ran out I slipped down and ran off. Whatever happened to old man Petrov?" Instead of answering quickly like he did before he just looked at her and a very wicked and troublesome smirk invaded his face indicating that things did not go at all too well for Petrov. Eriscordia thought that through but even as dark as he had become Ash would never be capable of a thing such as murder so she waited to see his answer. Ash simply put his hands behind his back and said. "Let's just say Hysteria is an attack humans don't react well to."

Eriscordia was not at all too bothered, after all, Petrov only proved useful for certain things and ever since she took over Alexandria City he had become useless. However, Ash on the other hand was proving to be more of a plague now, a plague she had to get rid of permanently if she wanted to succeed. Eriscordia simply raised her right arm and snapped her fingers and all remaining team members released their shadow Pokémon. Dozens of shadows walked slowly and menacingly towards Ash but all he did was remain calm.

Ash slowly closed his eyes and kept his face looking forward and then lowered his head and remained absolutely quiet. Eriscordia tilted her head a little to the right and raised an eyebrow in a curious manner as if asking why he was doing that instead of attacking like she thought he would be by now. After a minute or so Eriscordia's patience was wearing thin so she snapped her fingers once more and all the shadow Pokémon raced towards Ash. He simply remained calm and quiet as the shadows raced towards him. From the bank Officer Jenny and the others watched as Ash just stood there without reacting or even saying a word which worried them but at the same time made them smile for they knew he had a plan up his sleeve.

Before the shadow Pokémon could reach Ash a low humming sound was heard in the air and suddenly Ash slowly levitated and stood some 20 feet in the air. He was still leaning his face down and his eyes were still closed. All the shadows froze and just like Eriscordia watched to see what he would do next. Ash remained perfectly still for a few minutes and suddenly the ground from underneath them all began to violently shake. The shaking began to get stronger and far more violent, the team members were so shaken up that some hung on to light posts while the majority fell on their backs from the Earth's movements. Eriscordia levitated as well but only inches from the ground and remained calm to see what her rival was up to.

As the ground shook the buildings all around were collapsing. Most of the buildings in Alexandria City were mostly composed of glass so the shaking had its effect on the glass causing tons of glass to cover the streets in a crystal carpet. Eriscordia kept watching Ash and saw the street underneath him ripping. A thin crippled line formed underneath Ash and it expanded in width. Even with all the people and shadows running about Eriscordia couldn't help but keep an eye on Ash. Just as sudden as it started the earthquake ended and the wind died down. Everything was very quiet; nothing was heard especially from Ash. As Ash levitated in midair he appeared almost terrifying, he looked like a ghost sent back from the Underworld to unleash its anger upon all those who caused it pain during its time on Earth.

Finally Ash lifted his face at a slow pace and quickly opened his eyes revealing bright yellow eyes that pierced even the most daring and defying stare. Everyone in the area stopped running and screaming and looked at Ash. Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Dante, C.J., Karin, Pikachu, Brock and May looked at Ash both with fear and curiosity. The dark image that fell on him was indeed terrifying; it was like some sort of unholy creature about to unleash powers of darkness no mortal could survive. It was also ironic for that terrifying, unholy creature was what would save not only Alexandria City and Northbridge Town from total annihilation…but also the entire world.

Everyone stood silently and anxiously but then seconds later there was a deep rumble coming from the gash under Ash who was still levitating in midair. Eriscordia's patience was right at the limit so she stepped forward and taunted him just to irritate him, a little something she enjoyed doing. She looked at him from top to bottom and scoffed but then lifted her eyebrow in interest but then said. "Nice outfit, Azreal!" Her attempt to annoy him fell on deaf ears, he continued to stare coldly at her and she was the one getting annoyed. Before Eriscordia could send her shadows after him the rumbling intensified and right out of the gap a great wall of fire rose from the ground.

The wall stood about 30 feet high, the light emitting from the fire wall was so great it almost made it seem like dawn. All the people out on the street gasped in fear and shock. As the members ran about the shadows prepared for anything but it proved useless. Ash lifted his left arm and the wall of fire shot forward and straight at the crowd before him. All shadows were incinerated into a lose black dust, as for the humans some made it inside the buildings on that street but for those who were not as lucky they were lying on the street with a few small burns but nothing overly serious. Eriscordia on the other hand had teleported to avoid the wall.

Ash's eyes returned to their soft brown color but as they did he scanned the area for any sign of Eriscordia. He knew hitting her with just one blow was too much to hope for so he readied himself for just about anything to come his way. As he searched about a wave of razor sharp leaves swiftly cut through the air and were going straight for Ash. He looked at the leaves and lifted his left arm and as they flew closer they began to slow down until they made a complete stop. As the razor sharp leaves stood there they started to fall to the ground one by one. Once the last leaf hit the ground he looked up and said as he laughed. "Bravo! Bravo indeed. Razor Leaf attack? Why not try Bubble attack or something like that? Don't jerk me around, Eris!"

As Ash took a step forward he then felt Eriscordia's presence right behind him. He slowly turned around and saw his rival standing there looking at him. Ash noticed no anger, fear or any emotions at that, he wondered why for he would think anger would be the only feeling she would be displaying at the moment. Both of them stared at each other for the longest time. Back up on the bank they had been watching everything from the very beginning and were anxious to see what other attacks and ideas Ash had hidden away.

After several minutes Eriscordia finally spoke up and said in a cold tone. "So far you have been the biggest pain in the---butt I have ever had the misfortune to meet." Ash couldn't help but smile but this did not bother Eriscordia for she was confident that she could bring Ash down once and for all and continued. "Let's see how long you last out here."

"Long enough to send you back where you came from."

Both Ash and Eriscordia turned around and gave each other their backs and slowly marched away. All who were watching found this rather odd but they kept watching nonetheless to see what they were up to. After a gap of about 23 feet stood before the two rivals both of them began to actually glow. After the glowing light subdued they could see they had taken the shape of other Pokémon. Where Eriscordia stood now stood a Dragonite but this Dragonite had different colors. Instead of a light orange color it was now white, the belly, antennas and skin on the wings were a soft, pale gray. Where Ash stood now stood a Charizard. This Charizard was also different; it was completely black except for the belly, the skin in its wings and the fire on the tip of its tail which were also a soft, pale gray.

Both dragons snarled at each other as their eyes burned with their prospected colors. At the same time both of them took off high into the sky and began to blast powerful attacks at one another. Eriscordia opened her mouth and unleashed a massive Dragon Rage attack so Ash did the same thing and unleashed a massive Dragon Rage attack. Both of them were hit at the same time and with equal amount of force. Eriscordia began to glow once more so Ash did the same at the same time. It was as if whatever one was going to do the other knew.

As soon as they stopped glowing there were now two Mews. One was black the other white; their eyes however remained the same. Both of them flew off in opposite directions, after they were so apart that they looked like specks in the night sky Ash extended his left arm and his small paw began to glow purple, Eriscordia did the same thing and wound up with her right arm extended and her little paw glowing purple. At the end of their paws was a purple sphere which seemed to grow with each passing minute. Both took off at the same time and headed towards each other at high speeds, when they were close to each other both lifted their arms and as soon as they came face to face both of their paws met and as their palms touched each others' the spheres blew up and caused a massive nuclear like explosion in the sky.

The impact of both spheres caused an explosion due to the fact that both attacks had been sent out with equal force and strength and it also caused for both of them to fall back. Eriscordia hit a satellite atop of one of the buildings while Ash hit his back on a building wall. As soon as they picked themselves up they changed shape once more and this time both changed into Flygons. Both shrieked and flew at high speeds towards each other and just seconds before there would be a collision both of them swiftly flew up into the night sky. With only a few mere inches separating their bodies both kept their heads up looking into the sky but at the same time storing energy to deploy a seriously strong and destructive Hyper Beam attack.

Miles into the dark sky both of them swirled around each other and grabbed their claws as if holding one another to hit the attack right at the target. At the same time they opened their mouths and blasted one another with a devastating Hyper Beam attack, one that proved useless for as soon as the beam cleared away they saw each other still flying high. Ash snarled and flew straight down towards the ground and as soon as he landed he changed shape once more but this time he turned into a Minun. He ran to the end of the street and stood still as he watched Eriscordia who was still high in the sky. Eriscordia spotted Ash and swiftly swooped down to the street and as soon as she was in range Ash shrieked as he released extremely powerful Thunder attacks right at Eriscordia.

Eriscordia evaded each thunder as she moved sideways and back and forth. Where ever the thunder landed it left massive smoking holes on the street. The bystanders stared deeply into the holes realizing just how dangerous both of them were. Ash however had no thoughts in his mind; the only thing running through his mind was one objective only: "Hit Eriscordia". He stopped sending Thunder attacks from the sky and noticed Eriscordia drawing closer so he closed his eyes and stood still. Eriscordia had been blinded by rage so she paid little attention to what her rival was up to which would prove to be a bad mistake.

As soon as Eriscordia was in range Ash unleashed an even more powerful Thunder attack. The thunder raced down on Earth from the clouds above and hit her right on her back violently slamming her to the ground. The thunder kept racing down on her but then she grew wise and changed into a massive white and pale gray Onix. The thunder no longer had an effect on her so she raised her massive tail high up and dropped it mercilessly on Ash. Officer Jenny and the others gasped in fear as they had just witnessed a massive Onix drop its heavy tail on a small and meek Minun. Eriscordia's witty move did not last long for minutes later a massive black and pale gray Groudon rose from under the tail and as it did it tightly gripped the Onix's tail in its mouth and tossed the Onix with all its strength.

Eriscordia landed right on a building which after the impact began to tumble down as most of the foundation had been crippled by a loose Onix. Ash then changed into a small Cyndaquil and Eriscordia changed into a Treeko. Both raced towards each other and as soon as they were close Eriscordia unleashed a wave of high speed Bullet Seeds. Ash sort of panicked but managed to dodge most of them but the ones that did hit him hurt enough to make him cry out. "Cynda, cynda, cynda, cyn, cyndaquil!"

"Treeeeko, ko, ko, ko, ko, ko, ko!"

Ash was beginning to get furious and he knew if he let his rage blind him Eriscordia could use that as an edge so before she could fire another Bullet Seed attack he unleashed a Flamethrower, which roasted her, but it barely did any damage. That situation was beginning to really get to both of them since every attack they launched at each other was either evaded or barely did any damage. Both stood in front of each other and gasped for air as they tiredly kept an eye on each other. Both of them then began to glow and as soon as they stopped glowing they had changed back into human form.

Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Dante, C.J., Karin, Brock, May and Pikachu looked restlessly waiting to see what they would do next. They could tell both were tired and worn out but the look on their faces indicated that the fight was far from over, not only did they look mad but the way they were breathing indicated that the attacks, although having little effect, were doing some damage, even if it was very little. The awkward silence between the two rivals was nerve wrecking to those in the area as they watched carefully in case one would move. Brock, May and especially Pikachu were not only concerned but afraid, they had never seen that look on Ash's face before. It was indeed terrifying and something they were hoping never to lay eyes on again after Ash traps Eriscordia into the sphere and they would continue on with the rest of their journey.

Suddenly they both changed shape once more and now Ash had turned into a black Scyther with bright yellow eyes and Eriscordia changed into a white Scyther with blood red eyes. Both Scythers jumped towards each other and swung their scythes at one another. The impact from the scythes was very heavy; when both scythes touched they let out a clanking sound like that of a Trojan sword as it clashed with the sword of a Greek in war. It seemed every time they changed shape the fight would get more violent and far more dangerous for both of them. Eriscordia swung her scythe a little too close to Ash's right leg but she missed by just a few inches. This frightened Pikachu so the little mouse quickly ran to the streets but Symphony ran after it and Skitty saw the two little Pokémon running out so it tugged on May's leg and yelled out. "Na, na!" May turned to face her little Pokémon and kneeled down to see what was wrong. "What is it, Skitty?" Skitty then pointed at the door and saw it open and then noticed Pikachu and Symphony were missing.


	14. Chapter 14

Meanwhile back out in the street Eriscordia had kicked Ash and had fallen to the ground after a powerful Mega Kick had landed on his left side. Ash was sort of dazed but he could see as Eriscordia raised her scythe and let it go to hit Ash but he quickly rolled to the side and saw the scythe land hard on the street leaving a deep impression on the pavement. Ash got back up and jumped high into the sky and as soon as he felt he had enough altitude he used Agility to reach his target quicker and before Eriscordia could react Ash had pounced on her and tried to slash her but she had moved her scythe in front of her blocking Ash from slashing her.

Ash tried to push forward but Eriscordia put up a fight despite the fact that Ash had the upper hand and was psychically stronger than her. As they wrestled about Ash was suddenly distracted as Pikachu stood on the sidewalk and called out to its trainer. "Pika pi!" Ash looked and lowered his defense so Eriscordia raised her legs and put them right under Ash and flipped him. In midair Ash managed to twist about and landed on his legs but as soon as he gathered himself he saw Ericordia looking at him and he heard as she said telepathically. "Seems I can't hurt you much this way so I'll attack where it hurts the most."

Ash suddenly realized what she meant by that but before he could stop her she had teleported right next to Pikachu and raised her right scythe but before slicing the small mouse to pieces she noticed something around the little yellow mouse's neck. Eriscordia's eyes widened as she laid eyes on the black sphere. Hours before their encounter Ash had entrusted his best friend with looking after the black sphere he stole from Petrov. She then realized that Ash must have had the white sphere with him; her plans weren't completely ruined after all. Instead of attacking Pikachu she swung the scythe close to Pikachu and broke the chain around the little Pikachu's neck and snatched the sphere but before she could celebrate Ash had teleported behind her and as soon as he grabbed her he teleported them to the top of the bank.

Once at the top of the bank both snarled at each other and looked at one another viciously. Now that Eriscordia had her sphere and Ash had his both would be very difficult to bring down. After a brief moment of threatening each other both of them jumped at themselves at the same time, Eriscordia swung her left scythe but Ash blocked it with his right scythe but Eriscordia used her free scythe and slashed Ash on the left side of his face. That angered him so he violently and quickly swung his left scythe and slashed Eriscordia on her right arm. Both Scythers backed up and kept a space of about 15 feet from each other.

Both remained calm and at the same time changed back into human form. Eriscordia had a bloody thin line on her arm while Ash had a bloody thin line across the left side of his face. It wasn't a serious injury, but they were both still quite angry from it. Eriscordia wiped the angry look from her face and a grin invaded her face as she put her hand on her hip. Ash calmed down a tad and waited to see what she would do or say.

"You've put up quite a fight I'll give you that. But you have also been the biggest, most bothersome pain in the ass I have ever had to put up with." At that second Ash chuckled and a wicked grin slowly carved on his face. A feeling overcame Eriscordia, a feeling that the boy standing before her was up to something. She kept looking at him cautiously and wanted to ask him something but she preferred not to in case she would get involved in the conversation and would cause her to lower her defenses. Ash kept staring into her eyes seriously and the wicked smile grew more and more, not in length but in its wicked nature. In his silence he had been conjuring up a devastating attack, an attack more powerful than Aeroblast or Sky Attack put together.

Eriscordia kept looking at him now rather curious instead of cautiously. She raised an eyebrow questioning his motives as to why the smirk on his face, deep down she knew he was up to something but his cocky nature was getting to her. Suddenly a powerful burst of cold wind hit her like a ton of bricks, the impact sent her to the ground and as she hit the ground the wind died down and in a dazed notion she looked up and saw Ash still grinning and looking at her. Eriscordia realized that Ash had used Microburst but not at a destructive level, he was merely toying with her. "You little brat! Wait till I get my hands on you!" Eriscordia extended her claws which strangely were not that long and were a soft pale gray unlike Ash's which he had also extended as he kept his hands hidden behind his back.

As Eriscordia walked closer she lifted her right arm and swung it at Ash's face but Ash grabbed her hand before she could slash him once more. She looked at him and thought to herself. _"He's going to be tougher than I thought." _ Eriscordia dragged her hand away and took several steps back. After she had a good distance between him and herself she began to glow as they did when they were about to change shape so Ash readied himself for anything. A pure white aura wrapped Eriscordia from top to bottom and suddenly the light became so bright it actually stung Ash's eyes but he tried his best to keep an eye on her.

Eriscordia then began to levitate and continue to glow, a glow which was so potent it grabbed the attention of all bystanders down on the streets. Suddenly two strange shapes extended from her back and the glowing aura seized. High in the night sky was a beautiful figure; Eriscordia had changed into her real shape. She had long, soft silver hair; gorgeous and huge white wings that looked as fluffy as an Articuno's icy feathers. The wings also had several silver feathers tucked in between the army of beautiful white feathers. Eriscordia also had on a magnificent white dress made of soft silk, the dress was long and in a tube style but looked decent unlike all the other outfits she had worn during her conflict with Ash.

Her skin pale as the moon's face but as gentle as a newborn's sweet smile, unlike before she was now barefoot, no five inch heels or leather boots to decorate her seductive styles. Eriscordia was indeed the very image of all things pure and beautiful. Still, that image held no remorse for Ash for he knew the truth about the apparition before him, although she looked like the most beautiful creature on the face of the planet on the outside, inside she couldn't have been more frightening and horrendous.

Ash exhaled in a frustrated fashion as he looked upon the beauty before him, thinking of her image and then thinking how he would turn. The thought of turning into that which gives nightmares, that which stands for everything he ever stood against, that which the greatest force of darkness had crafted with its filthy, unholy claws. For a brief moment a touch of sadness overwhelmed him. Nothing that was happening was fair, especially for him, he was not used to having such a dark nature nor had he ever thought he would be that which every morally correct person would turn down. He looked down on himself and saw how he was dressed; strangely enough he hadn't noticed he was still dressed that way.

Ash looked at his hands and then his arms which were covered by the black overcoat he had borrowed from Dante. His wardrobe consisted of a pair of black, leather rock boots, black, baggy pants, a plain black, long sleeved shirt and a black overcoat that reached his ankles. He sighed sadly and as he slowly closed his eyes a tear fell out and caressed his cheek. For that split second he said to himself he was defeated. He had given up and Eriscordia had not even started to fight him. Ash had let himself defeat him, as he dug himself into that hole he fell to his knees and quietly sobbed. An alien feeling overcame him but he cared not, he only wanted this to be over and to go back to the way things were.

During that entire time Eriscordia had been telepathically listening to him, she had tapped into his thoughts and read every word and felt every devastating feeling and was quite surprised at him. She slowly and swiftly lowered down to the rooftop and walked over to him. Ash saw her walking towards him and felt nothing, he only wanted this all to end no matter who would suffer the consequences of his actions. When Eriscordia stopped he kept his eyes on the ground looking at the small dots of tears on the floor and said in a low and sad tone. "Just do it. Just do it and get it over with…please."

Eriscordia smiled sweetly and sat on her knees right in front of Ash. She slowly put her hand under his chin and lifted his face until she saw his eyes full of despair, sadness and tears. "You're strong. Most people who touch the sphere break down the minute they learn what it is that they have become. It's like you said as Marco was explaining: It's just another sickening moral lesson." This of course was said telepathically, no Pokémon could ever talk like a human could no matter how intelligent or powerful.

This was indeed a side to Eriscordia Ash had never seen or even thought existed in her. He thought that in his fragile state she would take advantage of it and kill him the second he had dropped to his knees not to mention after he had asked her to do it. He reacted to what she had said and replied. "A moral lesson? Look what I've become. How is…_this_...a moral lesson?" He said as a few more tears slowly marched down his cheek and he looked at himself.

"What you look like does not define who you are. What defines a person are the actions they do and choices they make in life. You and I and your friends and everyone else down there are merely pawns in this little game called life. The game's outcome depends on the moves you make. You've been given a weapon for you to use, a weapon created by darkness but to be used by the light. The entire lesson that both civilizations had to learn was that looks can be and are deceiving. Thanades stood for all the good in the world yet he was cast out as a demon but I who stood for all the wrong reasons were celebrated only because I did not look like a nightmare."

"You may not understand now but in time you will, love." Eriscordia leaned into his ear and said. "You need not wish for death so soon…you're time will come but nowhere near this time and age." Ash was still not only confused but still had no will to fight and Eriscordia saw this and her answer was simple, sweet and just right. She lifted her right arm and slowly put her index finger right where his heart was located and said in the softest and sweetest voice he had ever heard. "In the middle of darkness there's a light."

With that being said Ash did not fully understand but that last statement made a lot of things clear for him now. He smiled and Eriscordia returned the smile but then the strange scenario of the light and the darkness exchanging pleasantries would soon end for both had a score to settle. Eriscordia flapped her graceful wings and flew into the night sky, once high enough she extended her right arm and lifted her index finger and at the tip of her finger a small white sphere began to materialize and it grew slowly.

Ash stared at the sphere and then realized what attack it was. The attack was nothing like Light's Shadow but it could do some heavy damage if he took a direct hit. He turned around and ran away from Eriscordia but as she unleashed the attack it hit right behind him pushing him over the buildings edge. The front side of the bank had a sliding design to it that allowed Ash to only slide down the building. Of course as Ash slid out of control he tried to hang on to something but there was nothing he could get a good grip of so he extended his claws on both hands and sank them into the glass. The claws made a horrible screeching sound that bothered him but he knew if he let the sound get to him he would slide faster and surely go over the edge. As he reached the edge he got a good grip of the edge and held on as long as he could.

Meanwhile down bellow everyone had been watching and Officer Jenny and the others become alarmed when they saw someone hanging on to the edge of the building. "Oh, my goodness."

"Ash!"

"Pika pi!"

Ash groaned as he slipped a little but tried to hang on as much as possible. Eriscordia flew down to where he was and said, as she once again became that vile and unpleasant girl who had made Ash's life miserable for the past few days. "Well, how's the view from there, Ashy boy?"

"Oh, you idiot!"

"Tch, tch. My, what a short temper we have. So how are you doing?"

"Falling, jackass. I'm falling."

Eriscordia began to laugh and as she did she pointed her right index finger at Ash. She was going to hit him with the same attack but before she could he let go of the edge and fell down 96 floors. When he hit the ground he did so with his feet and as soon as his feet touched the ground he walked forward and seriously. All bystanders were both shocked and amazed as to how he landed on his two feet and broke nothing, Eriscordia of course was not happy at all. She flew down and landed close to Ash but he kept walking down the road and after he felt he had a good distance he stopped dead in his tracks.

Ash began to glow with a black aura and a black mist appeared and wrapped itself all around him. The mist became so dense no one could see anything at all but Eriscordia knew what was happening so she sat back and waited. Slowly the mist cleared away and all around gasped in horror for Ash had also changed into his now true form. Before them stood a nightmare, the creature was a gargoyle with black skin, two huge wings that looked like a devil's with the skin on the inside silver like Eriscordia's hair and feathers. The gargoyle had frightening yellow eyes, needle sharp fangs that looked like they could tare flesh in a matter of seconds. There were three massive horns on its head and several long and thin spikes running down its back and a long smooth tail.

The creature was truly menacing and scary. Just looking at him brought unease to all who laid their eyes on him, Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Dante, C.J., Karin, Brock, May and Pikachu were all frightened by Ash. Ash however cared not, he knew what and who he really was and who Eriscordia was so the form bestowed upon him did not trouble him one bit, and it in fact fed his ambition to defeat Eriscordia. Eriscordia on the other hand was having trouble, the dark image before her scared her to no end but she tried her best not to show it although it was futile since Ash could smell the fear emitting from her.

Now that both were even they were about to give all they could and stop at nothing to win this battle that would determine if the end was near or not. Eriscordia was a tad insecure about what her actions should be since over the years she lost all her battles one after another. Eriscordia lifted both arms at shoulder length and closed her eyes as she began to concentrate deeply. Ash knew she was up to no good so he kept both eyes open in case she would pull a dirty trick. A soft rumble was felt on the ground as Eriscordia summoned her shadow minions once more. Right behind her from the ground a dozen shadows emerged from the ground and stood still as they waited for her orders. This time all her shadows were legendaries. Mewtwo, Mew, Lugia, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Ho-Oh, Entie, Suicune, Celebi, Latios, Latias, Groudon, Jirachi and Rayquaza stood behind her and snarled as they laid eyes on their target. A feeling that Eriscordia had tapped into his mind crossed by his thoughts since all shadows standing there represented all legendaries that he had encountered.

The shadows divided and separated as they made a team of three in order to take Ash down. Of course that didn't stop Eriscordia from having a bit of fun of her own. She looked at her shadow minions and said. "Now my pets, one pack of three shall attack and then the other and then the other. Of course, you will succeed in bringing him down so I don't see the need for replacing each other. Now…get him!"


	15. Chapter 15

The Mewtwo, Mew and Lugia launched after him as the first to strike. All three raced towards him but he lay perfectly still as he concentrated and focused on an attack. High above Ash the clouds began to circle about slowly but surely and as they did they were making a portal to the sky. This portal of course was an attack, one Eriscordia knew of well, as the clouds made a circle from the middle a thin ray of pure light dropped down on him and as soon as it touched him it filtered through him and as he opened his snout widely a wide burst of pure white energy rushed straight to the shadows. As soon as it hit the shadows they burst into dust. Eriscordia became infuriated so she sent all remaining shadows after him.

This of course was no real problem for Ash since he knew he could easily defeat them and he would get a kick out of watching more of Eriscordia's cheats go down in flames. First to approach was the Groudon, which was a fire/ground type so any water attack would bring the massive shadow down. Ash thought of an attack but for it he would need to gather as much as energy as possible. He began to concentrate on the attack and focused on the target as it approached. When he felt the Groudon was too close he unleashed an abnormally strong Water Pulse attack on the Groudon. The wave of water hit the giant beast like a bulldozer would hit a brick wall at top speeds. As soon as the dust cleared away the Suicune hit Ash with a massive Skull Bash. Ash fell back but he was not brought down.

Right next to the Suicune was the Moltres, which was a flying/fire type, and Suicune was water so any electric attack would come in handy. Suicune and Moltres both turned around and headed right for Ash with another Skull Bash and Moltres with a Double Edge. Ash got up and charged some electricity through out his entire body as he ran straight for the two shadows. As soon as all three came into contact there was a massive electrical explosion that caused the shadows to turn into dust.

As soon as the dust settled Rayquaza and Entei ran towards him from different directions. All Ash thought of was to sit perfectly still and wait, as the shadows drew closer Ash spread his demonic like wings and when the shadows were only inches away he jumped high into the sky and flew off causing Rayquaza and Entei to crash into one another in a destructive collision. High above a Mist Ball passed right by Ash, he looked at where it came from and saw Latios and Latias racing towards him. He snarled from the frustration that these shadows were not about to give up the chase but nonetheless he flapped his wings and flew even higher into the sky.

Latios and Latias gave chase just as he wanted them to do so. Ash had flown so high up he popped up from under the clouds and swirled around about two times as he plunged nose first back down while Latios and Latias still gave chase. Ash flapped his wings intensely as he dove faster and faster towards the cold, hard concrete down bellow. Those looking at the battle were wondering why Ash was doing that but they were about to find out, as soon as Ash was very, very close to the ground he pulled up and flew a few mere inches from the pavement. Of course Latios wasn't as fortunate, it was too slow to pull up so it hit the ground at top speeds of mach two and the result was a rather nasty burst into dust. Latias was quicker though; she followed Ash's every move.

Ash picked up the pace and flew faster and so did Latias. Up ahead Ash saw another skyscraper and came up with another idea. For four years Ash had led his Pokémon into gym battles and leagues and from everything he saw and learned he fed off as he tried to beat this new challenge presented. Ash tried to pull off the same trick with Latias, As soon as he was inches from the building wall he pulled up quickly and flew up alongside of the building but Latias did not fall for it. As Ash climbed the side of the building wall Latias began to blast Mist Balls at him but he managed to evade each and every single one of them.

Almost at the top of the building Ash picked up more speed and as soon as he passed the last floor he swooped backwards sort of forming a huge c and around the curve he twisted around and faced Latias who was then smashed through the building's glass and brought into the building. Once inside Ash managed to shove Latias through to the other side and as they smashed through the other side of the building Ash grabbed one of Latias' paws and swung her around and brutally tossed her towards another building wall but as soon as Latias hit the wall she burst into dust from the impact.

Down on the ground Eriscordia watched as her rival viciously and brutally finished off her minions with combinations of both wit and brute strength perfectly aligned to create catastrophic results. Those last two moves were something almost barbaric and intense, proving that Ash was not going to go down as easily as her previous rivals, although he had already proven it long ago. High above in the sky Ash looked down on Eriscordia and let out a rather threatening and intense roar, after doing so he swooped down and tried to tackle Eriscordia but inches from her Ho-Oh had hit Ash on his side with a devastating Double Edge attack that sent him flying to a nearby telephone booth which he smashed into pieces.

Brock, May and Pikachu were startled by the intensity of the hit, which looked quite painful from where they were standing. From the ruble Ash strained to his feet and saw Eriscordia with the remaining shadows beside her, she swiftly waved her hand and they vanished into thin air and took two steps forward. Ash snarled as she approached him, she took it as a threat so before he could go anywhere she teleported right next to him. Ash tried to hold it together but the hit had taken its toll, he changed shape back into human form and tried to catch his breath as he stared at Eriscordia viciously and with fury.

Eriscordia lifted her right arm and a piece of fallen metal levitated in midair, that same piece of metal quickly launched right at Ash's throat and tightened as Eriscordia controlled it by closing her fist. Pikachu saw how Eriscordia was strangling his best friend so it decided to take the situation into its own paws. Pikachu ran to Eriscordia and hit her with its best Thunderbolt as it shrieked out. "Pika—chuuuu!" But being what she was the Thunderbolt barely even affected her. She did however grow weary from Pikachu's attempt to try and stop her. Eriscordia pointed her right arm at Pikachu and fired a rather meek Thunder attack; of course to Pikachu the attack was anything but meek as it was enough to bring the little mouse down.

Ash had seen that so he struggled to get back on his feet but the more he struggled the tighter the piece of metal became. Ash was too stubborn to stop struggling so he kept trying yet the more he tried the tighter the metal got and the less air got into his lungs which was resulting in a blurry vision and feeling light headed, all signs indicating that he would soon pass out. Eriscordia walked over and picked Pikachu up in her arms, the little small mouse was barely conscious as this was happening so it had no way of protecting itself and Ash himself would soon pass out if he continued to struggle.

Ash tried to remove the piece of metal but it wouldn't budge at all. As it grew tighter the piece of metal was beginning to really hurt, Eriscordia then walked up to him and said as she petted Pikachu. "Before I send you back into the Underworld I'll let you watch as I make your whole world collide and shatter into billions of pieces."

Ash knew he had to act fast so he looked around for another idea that would get Pikachu out of Eriscordia's hands and to safety. He saw a light pole that had been brought down so he turned to the psychic powers and as his eyes began to glow yellow a black aura wrapped the light pole and it levitated in midair. Ash looked right at the pole and then sharply moved his gaze to Eriscordia who so far was oblivious to the events; the pole launched quickly towards her and just as she raised her face to look at Ash the pole hit her right in the face. She dropped Pikachu as she fell back she covered her face with both hands and yelled out in pain since Ash had launched the pole with full force. The piece of metal also fell off of Ash's throat giving him the opportunity to run to Pikachu and get it to safety.

Ash picked up the little mouse and as Pikachu slowly moved its little head to look at him it tucked its face in his arms seeking the warmth and comfort from its trainer. Ash smiled sweetly and hugged Pikachu and said. "You okay, buddy?"

"Pi…" Pikachu was pretty hurt from the blast of Thunder Eriscordia had hit it with but Ash knew it would be okay after a good rest. He ran towards Brock and the others and handed Pikachu over to May. "Watch him for me, okay?"

"I will."

"Let me take a look at 'im." Nurse Joy took Pikachu in her arms and checked it out but before she could give him a diagnose of Pikachu's state a beautiful and peaceful sound was heard from every corner. The sound was not only the most beautiful choir anyone had ever seen, it was like a group of angels vocalizing in perfect harmony. The choir was an attack, one that Eriscordia knew well. As they listened in at the sound Ash fell to his knees and covered his ears to try and block out the horrible sound, at least for him it was horrible. The bothering uncomfort brought by the sound was so much that it had Ash screeching his lungs out. Dante, C.J., Karin and Brock went over to Ash to see what was wrong but before they could do anything they saw Eriscordia walking slowly towards them.

After several minutes Eriscordia stopped the attack and looked at Ash who was still on his knees covering his ears. He noticed the sound stopped and turned to look at his rival with piercing and raging eyes. He slowly rose from his knees while keeping an eye on her. The look in his eyes was nothing short of menacing and angry, the irony was that he was that furious because of the fact that she hurt Pikachu badly. Ash stood straight up looking Eriscordia dead in the eyes as his returned to their normal brown colors. A dark aura began to form around him and as the aura grew the blacker it became, then the aura shot up into the sky and formed the shape of a shadow raven. This attack was one that Ash had pulled off before and a powerful one as well, although it was not as powerful as Shadow's Light.

The raven spread its wings and opened its beak to launch a black beam, hence the name Shadow Beam. Eriscordia lifted her right arm and pointed her index finger at Ash and at the tip a white sphere formed and both launched their attacks at the same time. The two beams met at the middle and sort of wrestled for a few seconds but then the energy from both beams was so much that the beams blew up and caused an explosion that sent everyone off their feet and caused all things in the area to be blown off the ground and the buildings around them to shatter.

Even as everything around them was shattering both Ash and Eriscordia stood perfectly still. This of course irritated both of them but it got to Eriscordia more since she thought back on all her previous rivals and thought of how easily she had brought them to defeat and how hard it was to even scratch Ash. Eriscordia put both of her palms together and both of her hands suddenly burst into flames, she then levitated high into the sky and as she separated her hands the road under Ash's feet suddenly burst into flames. Officer Jenny and the others watched as the flames were engulfing Ash but he just stood there very calmly as if nothing was happening.

Ash noticed how on both sidewalks there were several fire hydrants lined up one after another. As the flames intensified he just looked forward and a powerful flow of water busted right out from the fire hydrants starting with the one behind Ash and it kept going till it reached the one right behind Eriscordia. The water ran high until it was a few feet higher than Eriscordia. Once it reached its primary height the water moved close and soon the long line of water gathered to a point and stayed there but then Ash had it rapidly shoot out at Eriscordia.

The water hit her and sent her down to the street where she hit the pavement hard and violently. The flames died down but as soon as the water stopped flowing the flames picked up once more and this time they were more intense. The fire spread widely and since Ash was in the middle of the firestorm he couldn't get out. The fire was now getting very out of control so Officer Jenny and the others had to back away but they still tried to see if they could find Ash. As all in the area backed away the fire got to the buildings on the sides and caused most of them to tumble and collapse out on the street and there was still no sign of Ash anywhere.

Eriscordia teleported to the ground several feet away from the fire and frantically looked for Ash as well. Her search would soon come to an end for as she looked around a path cleared right from where she was standing to the middle of the fire. At the end of the path Eriscordia saw Ash standing there in the middle of the fire giving him a dark look that brought fear into her. Even though Eriscordia was an evil being she was still a creature of the light that feared any and all darkened creatures. Ash's look was serious and very dark; he knew Eriscordia feared the darkness so he used that against her. He began to walk towards her at a slow pace which scared Eriscordia.

Ash slowly walked up to his rival and nemesis embracing every moment. He could virtually smell the fear Eriscordia was emitting from her so he kept walking and looking at her dead in the eyes as he took one step after another. When he was about ten feet from her he changed back to his hidden form and kept walking towards her at the same pace but with that form he scared her even more, almost to the brink of insanity. Eriscordia had not felt fear like that ever since she had fought her first and real rival millennia ago. The reason why she hadn't felt that fear with any other rival was that she eliminated them before they could take their hidden form.

"_I've come too far to be beaten by a mere brat!"_ A statement she screamed at herself and therefore her morale elevated to higher levels. She was at the brink of wanting to defeat Ash no matter how, even if it meant sending out an army out on just him. Just then an idea sparked within her, a cheat, better said.

Eriscordia was too proud to admit even to herself that Ash would take an army of 50,000 of hers to finish him. That thought gave her an idea. There were approximately 386 Pokémon, at least discovered at the moment, so she thought to herself. _"Why not have all 386 Pokémon get him instead?" _She chuckled at the thought and backed away from Ash several feet.

She tilted her head back and spread her arms and faced her palms towards the sky. Ash stopped in his tracks and tapped into Eriscordia's mind to see what she was up to. Seconds later there was a low rumbling sound, it looked like it was coming from every corner and while Officer Jenny and all bystanders panicked Ash stood very still since he now knew what his rival was up to. From the ground shadowy figures emerged into the streets and took the shape of Pokémon.

Everyone saw hundreds of shadow Pokémon sort of materializing before them. Pokémon as common as Rattatas and Wurmples and Spinaraks stood there along with not so common Pokémon like Typhlosion and Charizard and Absol and even the strange and bizarre Deoxys showed up. Soon every Pokémon known to man stood right behind Eriscordia and on her face a smirk dominated her face.

As she laughed to herself Ash soon revealed a smirk as well, this of course puzzled Eriscordia. The smirk on her face vanished and a curious look invaded her face now. While Eriscordia was summoning her shadow Pokémon Ash had been using a very helpful little attack.

Mimic was an attack that a Pokémon could use in order to learn its opponent's attack and use it against them. Only Eriscordia could summon shadow Pokémon at will but since Ash used Mimic he now knew how to use Shadow Gathering. Ash vanished into thin air and then reappeared on the other side of the City Street and then seconds later that same rumbling sound they heard before the shadows appeared was heard once more.

Right behind Ash several shadows appeared but these shadows were different than the ones Eriscordia had summoned. These shadows looked more like ghosts, they were pale see through silver and a white aura was around them. The ghosts were very lovely, they did not scare like the shadows Eriscordia had. Eriscordia looked in amazement at her rival who truly proved to be one tough challenge.

Both stared at each other as if reading each other's thoughts. Both stood quietly and perfectly still but then at the same time they both yelled their orders. "Get them!"


	16. Chapter 16

All 386 shadows and all 386 ghosts ran towards each other at full speed and full force. The shadows and ghosts ran towards each and as they met in the middle it looked like two seas collided with one another. A blanket of black and silver crushed with full force as all Pokémon shadows and ghosts attacked each other. Meanwhile Ash and Eriscordia took to the sky as they fired attacks such as Fire Blast, Hyper Beam, Dragon claw and Extremespeed. All bystanders looked at the sky and the ground, as a war was unleashed right before their eyes.

In order for Eriscordia to succeed she needed to get Ash to hold his sphere in his left palm and as he did she needed to pull off a perfect Light's Shadow attack on Ash. As she thought of how to pull that off Ash unleashed a powerful Flamethrower that was wide and came at her with full speed and force. Eriscordia flew up high and avoided the attack; she looked around for Ash but couldn't find him anywhere. She looked up at the sky and he wasn't there. She looked to the rooftops and he wasn't there either. Finally Ash appeared out of the nowhere right behind her and he quickly pulled his left arm back and at the palm of his hand a black sphere formed so he quickly launched the Shadow Ball at her and hit her.

Not only were they both able to pull off every single attack known to mankind but they could also use other Pokémon's abilities as well. As far as Ash knew Latios and Latias could become invisible so he used that to his advantage.

Eriscordia had not been seriously hurt that attack was more to rattle her up and anger her, which worked like a charm. Down bellow all ghosts and shadows were still at each other but then the shadows froze and refused to move at all. Ash landed on a rooftop and looked at Eriscordia wondering what was she going to do. Eriscordia slowly descended on the edge of the bank and spread her wings and arms.

Suddenly all shadows turned to look at Officer Jenny and the others, as did Ash to see what was going on. Suddenly the shadows ran towards Officer Jenny and the others but they did not hesitate. Everyone released their Pokémon and made a line separating them from the shadows. Ash quickly and swiftly swiped his left claws in the air and all ghosts disappeared as he flew down to his friends.

A large line of faithful and battle ready Pokémon stood in a perfect line to make sure the shadows would not hurt their trainers. May had been asked to hold onto Ash's Pokémon but as they laid in May's backpack all of his Pokémon erupted from their pokeballs. Ash had seen this coming so he knew they would need all the help they could get so he got Corphish, Grovyle, Tailow and Pikachu to help out.

Dante, C.J., Brock, May, Karin, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy released all their Pokémon to help out. Karin was counting on all her Pokémon but she knew Spellbound was trouble but she would try to work things out. As her Pokémon materialized before her she saw all of them were ready and willing to fight, even Spellbound which surprised her since Spellbound barely ever listened to her. Karin kneeled beside Spellbound and tapped her small shoulder and said. "Spellbound? Are you sure you want to do this?"

Spellbound the Sableye smiled and nodded at its trainer and as it agreed Karin was struck with outmost joy and happiness. "Oh, my goodness! Thank you, Spellbound! Thank you so much!" Karin hugged the small ghost and it returned the hug. Spellbound then turned to face the shadows since it knew its trainer's life would be in danger if the shadows got near them. That of course was what made it change its mind about its trainer and decided to help her out from that point on.

All of the Pokémon stared at the shadows as they came closer, they all felt fear but they knew they had to do everything in their power to protect their trainers. Pikachu looked up and saw Ash flying down and when he landed Pikachu jumped up and landed on his back. As the shadows came closer all the Pokémon unleashed their most powerful attacks they knew and Ash also unleashed a very powerful Hyper Beam. The attacks were 100 accurate but even with Ash's Hyper Beam the shadows were still coming. _"Oh, no. I gotta get these guys out of here, quick!" _Ash changed back to human form and Pikachu jumped up to his shoulder.

"Everybody inside!" Ash yelled as everyone including all remaining team members. The buildings in the area consisted of a bakery, mail office, cinemas and a small dentist's office. All buildings were unlocked of course since Eriscordia had chased all who lived in Alexandria City so it made it easier for everyone to find a place to hide in. Officer Jenny returned her Growlithe and said. "Get all of your Pokémon back inside the pokeballs."

They returned most of the Pokémon but they weren't fast enough. Symphony took off, as did Ash's Tailow, both of them along with the help of Dante's Crobat Lestat and Karin's Crobat Akasha they picked up some of the smaller Pokémon and flew up. Pikachu remained behind along with Ash to make sure everyone would get away safely.

As they did Eriscordia watched and made sure Ash could not get into the building by blasting a powerful Hyper Beam attack at the ground of the bank. The beam blasted through the cement and as it did the building began to slowly collapse right to where Ash and Pikachu were standing. Ash looked at the street and saw everyone was all ready inside the buildings so he grabbed Pikachu and ran towards the closets place which was the bakery.

As he was getting near dozens of shadows blocked him off, he snarled at them but then he remembered that he had Pikachu in his hands so he thought it a better idea to get away than to risk putting his Pokémon in harm's way. Ash turned around and saw more shadows behind him; soon all the shadows had circled Ash in and were ready to attack. Ash looked around for a way out and soon found it.

The bank had collided on the street but it had not fallen flat, instead it was leaning on some debris. Ash saw how some blocks of cement were aligned in a way that it made it easy to climb up and escape by running down the collapsed building so he ran off in that direction and evaded all the shadows before they could attack. Ash climbed up as fast as he could and held onto Pikachu as tight as he could in order to prevent any harm to come to his best friend. Pikachu climbed up on Ash's shoulder and saw that the shadows stayed behind which was weird since it figured they would be coming after them.

After a long climb Ash got to the top but he stopped dead in his tracks and when Pikachu looked up they saw Eriscordia standing on the edge holding an ax over her shoulders. As they looked at her thunder struck high above in the sky and gave her an even more maddening look, Ash looked at her and could tell from the look in her eyes that she was about to do whatever it took for her to win this. Ash could tell she would not hesitate to swing that ax and hit him so he reacted before she could. The ax being made out of metal and the fact that she was holding it up high and it was thundering gave him a rather wicked idea. Ash grabbed her right leg by the ankle and as soon as he did thunder came down on the ax and struck her. As Eriscordia was being shocked by the thunder Ash pointed his left arm at the mass of shadows under him.

The electricity smoothly ran through him without causing any harm but it did hit Eriscordia and her minions quite harshly. After several minutes Eriscordia fell to the ground and remained still as she caught her breath but her shadow minions had been turned into dust. Ash looked over Eriscordia and noticed that Alexandria City was just a few miles off the coast so to avoid any casualties between his friends he changed back into his hidden form and flew off in that direction. Pikachu was left behind but it looked at Ash and wondered where he was going. "Pika, pi!" Pikachu called out but Ash was just too far to hear the little mouse calling out to him. Eriscordia got up and saw Ash running off so she spread her wings and took off after him.

Out at sea Ash stopped and landed on a huge rock that was sticking out of the water. He had gotten at least one and a half miles out to sea which was all right since what he had in mind was to keep Eriscordia away from Officer Jenny and the others. Ash looked towards the city and waited. He just waited for his rival to come to him so that they could finish this destructive feud.

As Ash looked he could see the buildings from Alexandria City. The sun was finally rising right from behind those buildings. As the sun's rays shoved themselves from the clouds and dark sky they lit the sky up with a heavenly light that was not too bright but not so dull. As the sun slowly rose Ash stared at it with out most wonder, yes, the brightness of the light bothered him but it did not bother too much. As he stared at the sight he felt the corner of his mouth rise and felt a smile.

For the first time in days he smiled for the simple pleasure of doing so. The sight before him brought a huge amount of bliss he had not felt in the past few days. The beauty before him was like a portrait. An unseen hand in the sky was striking an unseen brush to create a perfect harmony of whites, oranges, pinks and pastel reds with a few streaks of baby yellow. The bright yellow from the sun that was now over some of the smaller buildings was opening the way for the rest of the parade of colors. As the pastel orange was being pushed away to give way for the bright yellow the rest of the colors just sort of fell into perfect harmony turning the portrait into a masterpiece done by an unseen mystical force.

Ash sighed and kept looking at the sun rising, he had never really focused on something so simple and a part of him regretted that he never really had. It seemed as though the "gift" bestowed upon him opened a few extra doors in his mind he had not noticed before. Everything now seemed complicated yet at the same time simple, all living creatures whether they were human or not felt as if they had a little piece of wisdom to share and he was the willing young kid listening to every whisper, whispers that could feed wisdom to him.

The mixture of emotions and the adrenaline flowing through out his entire body gave him a strange feeling. It was peaceful but at the same time it was wild and unpredictable, something all too new for him but he felt completely comfortable with it. As he kept admiring the sun rising Eriscordia landed next to him and smiled wickedly as she raised her right arm and pointed her palm at him. A white sphere formed in her palm but as she fired the attack Ash leapt into the air.

This of course agitated Eriscordia so she flew up high as well. Both stood perfectly still and looked into each other's eyes as if they agreed to stop fooling about and finishing what they had started. Both backed up and as soon as there was a wide area between them they both seemed to relax and concentrate.

Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Dante, C.J., Karin, Brock, May, Pikachu and all their Pokémon ran towards the edge of Alexandria City to witness what was happening. Ash had a black and silver mist form around him and as this was happening the sky over him turned as black as an Umbreon's fur coat. Eriscordia had a white and silver mist form around her as well and the sky over her was as white as an Altaria's wings. Dante and Karin and Officer Jenny gasped as they looked at Ash and Eriscordia in shock. May saw their reaction and wondered what was happening so she walked up to Karin and asked.

"Karin what's going on?"

"Both of them are going to launch their strongest and most destructive attacks at the same time."

Brock cut in and said. "That sounds pretty dangerous."

"It is, especially for both of them. If hit directly they could be brought down to their last drop of energy and getting any energy to do much of anything would be impossible."

Both Brock and May gasped and Pikachu looked towards Ash and wished him the best of luck. Pikachu felt pretty bad that it could not be able to do anything to help its trainer out but Pikachu had a lot of faith in him so it smiled and watched.

Out at sea the sky over them changed, the clouds began to twirl around and in the middle there was a hole that looked like a portal to another world. A soft light of a faint gentle black color fell on Ash. The light carried several sparkles that looked like stardust. Karin smiled and so did the others. Even though the light was black it was still the most beautiful sight any of them had ever seen. A comforting feeling overwhelmed them as they kept looking at the gentle light that surrounded Ash.

The same thing had happened to Eriscordia, the clouds above her twirled and formed a portal and from the portal a bright white light fell on her and just like Ash several sparks colored black fell on her as well. This sight was also beautiful and peaceful. It was strange both attacks were powerful and destructive but they emitted a gentle comforting feeling that seemed to calm all who looked upon them.

Ash lifted his left arm and Eriscordia lifted her right arm. Both of them launched a beam of black and white light at each other. By the time Ash and Eriscordia thought of flying away the beams hit them both. Ash could feel the beam draining all his energy but he knew he could not just give up.

As his energy was being drained he could not hold up his hidden form any longer so he changed back to human form, as did Eriscordia. Ash looked down and saw the sphere and yanked it off his neck and held it tightly in his palm. Officer Jenny and the rest of the group had their complete attention on the events unfolding before them as they kept looking they had not noticed how the remaining team members gathered behind them to look as well.

Suddenly both attacks seemed to fuse with one another and created an extremely bright light. It was so bright the onlookers had to squint their eyes in order to keep looking. Dante, Karin and Brock put their hands just above their eyebrows and looked impatiently to see who would remain standing from the two rivals.

Ash felt as the light subdued and as he opened his eyes he saw Eriscordia hugging him tightly. As the light left it was as if life returned into his body and he could feel and see everything. Both Ash and Eriscordia were looking out into the sea and as their cheeks met and their eyes were held captive by the sunrise and stunning sea under them they slowly turned their heads to look at each other.

Once their eyes met they stared at each other for what seemed like forever. Deep in their eyes they knew one of them had just lost and would be gone forever. Trapped in a sphere and their power would be a slave to the other whenever summoned. After looking into each other's eyes they separated a few inches and looked at their hands.

Ash's left hand was tightly gripping Eriscordia's right hand and a strange black and white glow emitted from their hands. Ash lifted his gaze and looked at Eriscordia who shed a single tear from her right eye as she lifted her gaze to look at him. Ash saw the other sphere hanging from Eriscordia's neck so he snatched it with his right hand and inserted the sphere into his and her hands and held their hands together with his right hand. Eriscordia now facing defeat took her left arm and swung it around Ash's back and gave him a rather heart felt hug.

At the shore Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, Dante, C.J., Karin, Brock, May, Pikachu and all the other Pokémon and people watched as the two rivals shared what seemed like a rather sad moment. They knew they had won but the sight was not like anything they had expected. In truth, it was rather sad but Eriscordia's acts were demanding of justice for all who fell under the curse of the spheres. Thousands of lives were lost over the centuries and a single tear could not justify for all the misery and blood shed she caused.

Finally Eriscordia let go of Ash and he let go of her hands and watched as she slowly fell towards the sea. As she fell her entire body lit in a beautiful and peaceful white light that seemed to engulf her. Ash had also let go of the spheres so they could fuse together and finish swallowing Eriscordia into her prison which would now be her home for the rest of eternity. Both the white sphere and black sphere had fused together to create a stunningly beautiful silver sphere which swallowed Eriscordia into it as they both fell into the sea.

Inches before hitting the water Eriscordia had been fully engulfed by the silver sphere and it went into the water. Ash changed form and flew down after the silver sphere; he dove into the water and went after it. Pikachu, May, Karin and Brock walked closer to the edge and waited impatiently to see when Ash would come back up.

As the seconds passed they became very uneasy and worried. They all stared into the waves as they crashed into the sandy shore and left a dying impression into the wet sand. Suddenly Ash flew right out of the water and as he flapped his massive wings he slowly landed on the ground right in front of the group.

Ash changed back into human form and stood there quietly and looking down at the ground. Slowly he lifted his face and looked at his friends; they were startled by his eyes since they were burning with a silver glow. They settled down as the glow lifted and his eyes returned to their normal soft brown color. They also noticed that around his neck was a black string and at the end of it was a beautiful silver sphere.

Pikachu looked at Ash and then ran towards his trainer, leapt into his arms and hugged him tightly. Ash was somewhat unemotional for a few seconds but then he smiled sweetly and returned a heart felt hug. May, Karin and everyone else ran towards Ash to greet the winner. It was true, Ash had won, he saved not only a city and a town but also the entire world from total destruction but deep inside he felt somewhat terrible and sad.

As the voices from his friends overlapped and seemed to grow louder he retreated into the back of his mind and thought for several minutes. Finally he came to a conclusion that would rid him of that terrible burning feeling inside of him.

"Well, we should return back to Northbridge. Dr. Marco will want to hear the good news." Officer Jenny said as she smiled. Everyone agreed except for Ash who remained silent and walked away from the group. He walked towards the edge of the shore and looked to where the Heavens and Earth met. The group fell silent and looked at Ash wondering why he was acting that way, after all, they did win the battle.

"Hey, guys?" Ash said after standing there quietly for several minutes. "Can you give me a few minutes, please?" They all looked at each other and then back at Ash wondering what he was going to do. Brock spoke out and said as he smiled. "Sure. C'mon, you guys."

The group left and Ash turned his attention to the enchanting sea behind him. Ash slowly lowered his gaze and closed his eyes. Pikachu, who was still on his shoulder, looked at him but remained perfectly silent. Ash remained just as silent and still, he almost seemed like a statue overlooking all who sailed in the waters. Suddenly the wind picked up wildly and blew powerfully, Pikachu almost lost its grip and fell off of Ash's shoulder but Ash just kept perfectly still.

The wind kept blowing and as it raced past Ash it made the overcoat dance wildly. Ash's dark look seemed ethereal and almost celestial, like a dark angel sent to bring peace and hope to all for all of his wrongful actions. Seconds later the deep silence was broken when the voice of a small child was heard from Ash's left side.


	17. Chapter 17

"I always thought you'd know better."

As the small child's voice spoke Ash could feel something very cold touch his left hand. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a small apparition resembling a girl around Max's age standing next to him holding his hand in her small hand.

The small girl was Eriscordia when she was just a little girl. She was wearing a white cloaked robe like the one from the picture in Dr. Marco's house. Eriscordia's face shun with a radiant glow of pure innocence that was not there before. Her smile was sweet and her eyes were full of joy, the same joy you would find in any happy child.

"The minute I looked into your eyes I saw the purest heart since Thanades. He was always kind to me and treated me nicely. Thanades was very dark but he was the gentlest and kindest person to walk the Earth…just like you, Ash."

Ash laughed in a shy manner and put his hand behind his head as he sort of blushed from the compliment and said. "Me? Nah."

"Sure you are. I know so. Isn't that right, Pikachu?" Pikachu lifted its paw in the air and agreed with Eriscordia by shrilling out. "Pikachu! Pi, Pikachu!"

"See?"

Ash smiled sweetly and then kneeled down right next to Eriscordia. She quickly jumped into his arms and hugged him sweetly. Ash returned the hug while Pikachu jumped in to hug both as well and smiled at the former rivals.

"I knew I was right." Said Eriscordia as she placed her hand right on Ash's heart and whispered a familiar line. "In the middle of darkness there's a light." Ash couldn't help but smile again and so did Eriscordia and Pikachu.

"Oh, I almost forgot. I have a gift for you." Eriscordia stretched her arm out and when she opened her small hand a small, starry white orb levitated in the middle of her right palm. Ash looked at the orb and then at Eriscordia in curiosity.

"Huh?"

"I want you to wield the power of the light. Then you will have complete control over the light and the darkness."

"Eris, I---I can't."

"Think of it as a thank you for setting me free gift." Deep inside Ash did not want to part Eriscordia from her powers that had been bestowed onto her but she was giving them to her in good faith. After thinking it over Ash slowly lifted his left arm and as soon as their palms came together Eriscordia transmitted all of her powers onto Ash.

"Most people don't realize it but darkness is not a force of evilness. The darkness is every huge and little challenge given to us by fate. Sadly, those who fail to pass a challenge consider it bad. Truth be told you cannot live without the light or the darkness. You need both in order to have a perfect balance."

"That's true." Said Ash as he petted Pikachu.

"Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you, Ash Ketchum."

"Same here."

"Pi! Pikachu!" Agreed the little yellow mouse as it lifted its paw in the air. Eriscordia smiled at Pikachu and turned to face the sea. The small apparition began to vanish but before it completely vanished she turned to look at Ash and said with a huge smile.

"I meant what I said earlier. Nice outfit, Azreal."

For a split second Ash was oblivious to what she had said but then he looked at himself and laughed realizing why she had said that. Seconds from vanishing Eriscordia winked at Ash and finally vanished from the realm of the living to rest once and for all.

Later that day around noon the citizens of Alexandria City and Northbridge Town got together to celebrate how a courages young trainer saved them. After a lot of drinking, partying and much eating Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy and Dr. Marco called the group over to speak about Ash's new situation. Dr. Marco walked over to Ash and placed his massive hand on his shoulder and said with a huge smile.

"Well, after talking it over we have decided that Ash seems fit to release out into the world. He's no threat to anyone and he did save us all." After Marco said that Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy agreed. Ash proved to be more than capable to control his "gift" and they knew he was a kind heart with not one shred of evil in him.

After staying for just a few more minutes Ash, Pikachu, Brock, May and Max said their good byes and made their way towards Northbridge Valley. As soon as they set foot on the valley they heard some one calling out to them. The group turned around to see who it was and it turned out to be Karin, Dante and C.J.

"Glad we caught you guys before you left." Said Karin as she tried to catch her breath. "We were wondering something. Back there at the cliff, you asked us to give you a moment. You never told anyone anything but we know what you did."

"Yeah, very cool indeed, kid." Said Dante as he crossed his arms and C.J. agreed as well. Ash lifted an eyebrow in question and said. "But how?"

Karin smiled at Dante and C.J. and said. "Oh, a little Crobat told us."

"Plus we figured _you_ had figured it out as well when you first touched the sphere." Said C.J. with a confident smile. May on the other hand had absolutely no idea what they meant by that so she stepped forward and asked. "What do you guys mean?"

"I let Eris go."

"You what!" Yelled Brock, May and Max at the same time but Ash explained why he had done that. Of course Karin, Dante and C.J. already knew why so they let him do the explaining.

"Relax, you guys. I freed Eris from the curse. See, their dad was half right. Eris was cruel and bitter but that was before those witchdoctors had placed the curse. The war was not because of the land; they had worked that out through an agreement. The war was really all about who would be the next heir to the throne. Both civilizations had joined to form one but both had two kings and two heirs so when each wanted their kids to take the throne a war was spilled over."

"Makes sense." Said Brock and Max agreed.

"Yeah. So both of their parents turned to their own witchdoctors and they were the ones who gave them the gifts and it was them who placed the curse. It wasn't Eris, she was just another victim just like Thanades."

"But then why does everyone think _she_ is evil and why hasn't anyone corrected this?" Asked May who was not placing it all together as neatly as the rest were.

Karin who all this time had her hands behind her back showed them what looked like a very old letter. Karin faced the written part towards Ash and the others and said. "Because we were told not to say anything until she was set free."

"You see, our great, great grandmother found a set of letters all addressed to Thanades and one addressed to 'who ever it may concern'. Both Eris and Thanades wrote this particular letter explaining how the war started and why it did. Oh, and the letters Eris wrote to Thanades explained that both of them were friends not enemies. They just tried to end the war but in the end failed."

"Oh. Poor Eris." Said May in a sympathetic tone which everyone else agree to. Suddenly Brock got an idea in his head and looked at Ash curiously and said. "So, we know Karin, Dante and C.J. knew the truth about Eris and Thanades but how did _you_ know?"

Ash smiled wittingly and said as he looked at the letter in Karin's arms. "While we were out there in the sea pulling off the attacks she told me. Not in words though, she shed a single tear and somehow I saw what really happened in that tear. I guess she was saving it till the end. Seems like she always leaves it till the end but then none of the other "Thanades" seemed to have understood so she did what she had to in order to survive."

"So in a way ya did the right thing, Ketchum." Dante said as he patted Ash on the back and everyone else agreed, including Pikachu. Ash smiled and said. "So, guys, what are you gonna do from here on out?"

"Well—" Began to say Dante but then he was cut off by an anxious Karin with some good news. "Well, I am off to start on my own journey! That is like so wicked! Dad, saw how Spellbound began to trust me and he kept his promise."

"Hey, that's great! Maybe we'll run into each other." Said Ash followed by a reply from Pikachu. "Pikachu!"

"Yeah, that'd be great!"

They wished Karin the best of luck and they all continued on their own paths. After crossing Northbridge Valley, which took a while, Ash and the others came face to face with the gorge. "Well, this is it. Let's go guys." Said Brock as he walked in first followed by Max who said. "Too bad you guys didn't catch any new Pokémon."

"Well, in a sense Ash _is_ a Pokémon. But…I wonder if he would be considered a legendary?" Said May as she laughed and kept walking down the gorge but Ash quickly said. "Hey, we're getting just a little too ahead of ourselves." The group of kids laughed and so did Pikachu.

The little yellow mouse jumped off of Ash's shoulder and walked ahead of Ash. As Ash was going to set foot on the rocky path of the gorge he heard the faint sound of children laughing. He slowly turned around and a few feet away were two small apparitions. One was Eriscordia who was holding hands with a small boy who Ash thought to be Thanades. Both apparitions were holding hands and waving at Ash. Ash smiled and watched as the two apparitions vanished into thin air. After they were gone he kept walking down the gorge and on with his journey.


End file.
